Earth Shattering
by Slytherin-Goddess214
Summary: Eight minutes. That, was all the time it took for Draco and Hermione's lives, to completely change forever. **Credit to KrystalHearts2 from Wattpad for the AMAZING cover photo!** *Sequel Up Now*
1. Chapter 1- Meeting

Chapter 1- Meeting

 **Thursday July 28** **th** **, 2005 02:05pm**

Draco Malfoy sat at his office desk, tapping his fingers in annoyance. He was pissed as all hell to discover Hermione Granger, of all people, was mad at him. His company, Malfoy Technologies, ended up having to sue her company, S.P.E.W Inc., which was her way of trying to help elves who didn't want to be helped, for slander and defamation. She had no right to be mad at him.

She had caused his company more than a few setbacks and he had lost a lot of clients because of her propaganda. She had held protests in front of his forty floor, high-rise, office building, just outside of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, on multiple occasions and she did not do it kindly.

Her whole reason for the hate against his company, he thought, was mainly because she still hated him from their school days; that, and the fact that she still thinks his workers are overworked.

He had hired elves to work for his company a few years back and he had offered to pay them, but they refused. He treated all of his employees well and he hated that the know-it-all, was trying to ruin the reputation he had tried so hard to fix.

Draco had moved his company out of London to purposely try and get away from people he knew and start over in a new city. But Hermione Granger had followed him. He didn't understand what her obsession with trying to take him down was; however, he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Hermione Granger was set to meet him in his office at two in the afternoon and she was late. One thing he hated more than being accusing of something he didn't do, was people being late to a meeting; especially one she set the time for.

Now even more annoyed, Draco stopped his tapping and stood up. He wanted to go straight to the source instead of calling down to find out what exactly happened. He straightened his black suit jacket and removed a speck of lint from his white dress shirt before storming out of his office door on the top floor.

He was kind to his employees but when he was showing obvious signs of anger, they stayed out of his way. That is exactly what they did now, as he marched down the hallway towards the elevator.

He waited for what felt like forever for the blasted thing to come and looked down at his watch on his left wrist. The time was 02:15 pm and she was now fifteen minutes late. The doors the elevator opened and he stepped to the side to let some people out before stepping in him-self and hitting the button marked Lobby.

The elevator was one he was very fond of. The whole back had a huge floor to ceiling glass window pane that let passengers see outside. Depending on what side of the building someone was on, it gave either a glorious view of the downtown area and at night, one could see the lights of the city glow, or it gave the peaceful view of the suburban town of Sparkbrook.

His building was on the south edge of the city and looking out the side the town was on, was one of his favorite things to do. He preferred it more than the city side; but right now, he didn't want to look out the window. Right now, he just wanted to figure out why one-third of the Golden Trio was late to a meeting she scheduled.

Once he reached his destination, he stepped out and walked to the front desk in a quick pace but suddenly stopped when he saw Hermione arguing with a young blonde woman, manning the front.

He hadn't really seen the Gryffindor Golden Girl, up close, in years. He had only seen her from afar and that was due to not wanting to interact with her nonsense. But looking at her now, he realized she was still as beautiful as he remembered. Not that he would do anything about it. He had always thought she was pretty but due to her blood status, he could never act on what he felt. She would turn him away in a heartbeat anyway, with everything he had done to her and her friends.

"I…have a meeting…with Draco Malfoy! What about that, do you not understand?" he heard Hermione shout.

"I don't have you in the schedule and with the nuisances you have caused him over the years, I highly doubt he would want to see you." the woman retorted bitterly.

Hermione's face reddened in anger and she slammed her fist on the raised desk, which was very similar to what muggle hotels had. She let out a grunt and rolled her eyes. He at least now knew why she was late.

"I have an appointment! You can even call up and ask him! This is absurd; I am twenty minutes late because of you, do you know that?"

"Ma'am," the woman began to argue back, but Hermione's face turned to a scowl.

Draco took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had to interrupt the argument before it escalated even more and his employee got hexed.

"Do not call me ma'am! I am not-"

"Eh em." He cleared his throat as he walked up to the side of the desk.

"Mr. Malfoy?" the receptionist claimed in surprise "Sir, I am so sorry. This woman, claims to have an appointment with you but she is not in the book." The woman turned her attention back to Hermione with an almost hateful look. "She won't leave."

He looked at Hermione who seemed to not be able to take her eyes off of him. She looked him up and down but not in disgust like he had expected her to. Realizing her mistake, she quickly looked away and back at the blonde she was pissed at.

"She does have an appointment with me." Draco began calmly looking away from the brunette. "I have been waiting in my office for the past fifteen minutes for her arrival, Ms. Tate."

"But sir…She is not in the book." The woman tried to defend herself.

"Then someone messed up because I set this appointment up three days ago, myself…Let me see the book." He held out a hand and looked back to very quiet Hermione who was trying to look anywhere but at him.

"I…I don't think that is necessary sir. I…I already looked." the woman stuttered.

"The book, Ms. Tate." he asked again more firmly, turning his attention back to her. "Now."

Ms. Tate's hands shook as she reluctantly picked up the appointment book and slowly handed it to Draco. He grabbed the book from her hand and opened it to the correct date. He wasn't surprised to see Hermione's name in the schedule but he was baffled that her name was crossed off like it was a cancellation.

"Why is her name crossed off?" he asked a little angry.

"I don't kno-"

"Please don't play coy with me. You crossed her off the list didn't you?...I can always check the security syst-"

"Yes!" Ms. Tate quickly cut in.

Draco closed the book with one hand and Ms. Tate jumped at the loud popping noise it made.

"Why would you do that?" Hermione asked in shock as Draco set the book down.

Ms. Tate refused to look at either one of them and instead looked off to the side.

"Answer her." Draco demanded with authority.

"Because! She doesn't deserve to have an audience with you!" Tate almost yelled out. "She is foul and has destroyed this company's reputation! She is a filthy little Mud-"

Draco's eyes widened as he heard one of his own employees about to say the worst word he has ever used in his life.

"Don't!" he interrupted before Tate could finish her slur "Don't you dare, say that word." His eyes furrowed in anger and Hermione looked at him in confusion with her mouth gaped open. "Finish that sentence and I promise you Ms. Tate, you will not only no longer work here but I will personally see to it that you will never work again…Do I make myself clear?"

A crack of thunder echoed in the lobby and everyone turned to look out the large, floor length, wall to wall, glass windows. It had started to pour and it made Draco confused for a moment. He didn't even know it was supposed to storm that day. He quickly moved his focus back to the blonde receptionist and was about to continue but she beat him to it.

"You wouldn't fire me over a word" she scuffed "I am the best thing that has happened to you and this business."

"Excused me?" he raised a brow and took a step forward, placing him-self behind the desk "You might have worked for this company since I opened it five years ago and yes, you have done a lot to help me get the name out there, but that, by no means, give you any right to talk to me or anyone for that matter in that way! You are still an employee and I am still your boss!"

He knew Ms. Tate had a crush on him but he never slept with anyone who worked for him, nor had he flirted. In fact he hadn't slept with anyone since he opened Malfoy Tech. He had been too preoccupied with building his business that it didn't even come across to him as something important. He had not been a playboy since leaving school and even then, Playboy, was just a title his friends gave him after rumors spread of girls claiming they slept with him when they didn't.

He had only ever slept with was Pansy Parkinson after school ended and it was one time, right before he opened his business. From then on, his hand was his only release and it suited him just fine. It wasn't like woman threw themselves at him anyway; not after finding out he was a former Death Eater.

"I think you should go home Ms. Tate." He continued a little calmer, after she didn't say anything for a moment. "We can discuss disciplinary actions tomorrow. Ms. Link can take over your shift."

"Are you serious?" Tate asked rather angry "You are making me go home because I crossed this Mudblood out of the book?"

Hermione lowered her head and took a step back. Even she knew that Ms. Tate just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Draco's head snapped to the receptionist as the Lobby grew quiet and looked at him to see how he would respond. Ms. Tate however, stared him down like it was a battle he didn't want to get into. If only she knew how wrong she was.

"I beg your pardon? I was not sending you home for crossing Ms. Granger's name off of the schedule." He began calm but firm "I was sending you home for the tactless way you have spoken to her and to me in front of everyone. All you simply had to do was clock out and go home and we would discuss how to proceed tomorrow, but instead," his brows furrowed again "Instead you not only directly disobeyed my request to leave for the day but you blatantly defied me when I asked you not to use that slur. You disrespected me, you disrespected Ms. Granger, and you disrespected the morals of this company…Pack your things Ms. Tate, you're fired."

Ms. Tate's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. She closed her mouth a few times but was struck speechless.

"Ms. Link?" Draco called out from behind the shocked woman who looked like she was about to cry. "Would you mind covering the rest of Ms. Tate's shift? She no longer works here and of course, I will pay you overtime as well."

Ms. Link nodded her head and began to walk over to stand in the spot the blonde was in but Tate didn't move. Draco looked at her and let out a sigh as the rain pounded harder against the glass of the building.

"I have a meeting to get to Ms. Tate; if you could please just make this easier on everyone and leave."

Security started making their way over to him slowly and he shook his head to stop them. He wanted to see first, what his ex-employee would do.

Ms. Link stood near the woman, playing with her hands, unsure of what to do as she waited. Another loud clap of thunder echoed through the lobby and Draco was growing impatient. But Ms. Tate still didn't move as she began to scowl at him.

He turned his head back to security and nodded for them to take her out. That, is when she finally decided to let out a huff and started to collect her things in a box.

Draco wanted to wait to see her leave but he wanted to get the meeting done an over with, so he turned to face an out of place Hermione as he let security handle the matter from then on.

"Granger." He stated crossing his arms and Hermione's head snapped up.

He began raising a brow when she didn't speak for what felt like a few minutes.

"Malfoy." She finally replied with no emotion.

He let off a smirk and turned around to head back to the elevator. After a few steps, he got a feeling she wasn't following him so he turned around and looked at her. She was still standing in the same spot in her business casual light blue, short-sleeve, blouse and black slacks. Her hair was up in tight ponytail and he desperately wanted to tell her how pretty she looked but decided against it. He didn't need her retaliating against the lawsuit with harassment. He also knew she wouldn't take the compliment well, even though he was over picking fights with her.

"Are you coming or not, Granger? I do have other things I need to get to today."

Hermione looked at him with the disgusted face he was waiting for the whole time and quickly moved to catch up to him. He turned back around and continued walking to the elevator.

They stood in silence as they waited for the car to come. He wanted to speak to her but he didn't know what to say. He had wanted to apologize to her for everything he ever did to her in school but now just wasn't the right time. If anything, she probably hated him more since the lawsuit began and would only think of it as an easy way to weasel her way out.

The doors opened and he motioned for her to enter first. She stepped in and he followed after her, careful not to bump into her as he turned to hit the button marked Level 40.

They were quite for a few moments as the elevator began to rise with the soft music playing overhead. Draco hated the silence, so he turned to break the tension in the car but Hermione apparently had the same idea as him.

"Why did you stick up for me?" she asked quickly, only slightly gazing up at him.

She was leaning against the bar on the window as he turned his head to look at her. He however, couldn't find the guts to tell her it was because he liked her, so he just looked at her. She rolled her eyes and turned to look out the large glass pane, at the suburban area, covered in a dark sky that came out of nowhere.

"Thank you…for defending me." She stated tilting her head to the left slightly to eye him. "But it doesn't change anything."

"I don't see how it would but…you're welcome." He replied putting his hands in his pockets.

A loud roar of thunder could be heard as a streak of lightening lit up the sky. The elevator suddenly jerked to a stop and they both looked up out of instinct as the whole building felt like it was being shaken. The lights flickered but they did not go out.

"What the hell?" he asked to no one in particular after the rumbling came to a stop, seconds later.

He began to push the button to his floor again but the elevator didn't move. He tried the button marked open but the doors didn't budge. Hermione though, never left facing the window as a loud siren blared throughout.

"Malfoy?" she began, slowly backing up.

He however, wasn't paying attention to her or the siren as he tried pushing the emergency button.

"That is just great; bloody muggle contraptions! We must have gotten struck by lightning." he claimed pushing the buttons over and over again.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said again but this time standing next to him with wide eyes as she nudged him with her hand.

"What?" he questioned in annoyance, finally looking at her.

Her face was one of terror and she was visibly shaking. But Draco was confused as to why she was scared. They were only trapped in the elevator on the thirty-sixth floor. They could just charm their way out if need be and take the stairs. He wondered for a brief moment, if storms scared her.

But Hermione lifted an arm steadily and pointed. He slowly followed where her finger pointed and saw exactly what made her look so afraid.

Another flash of lightening lit up the sky as the rain slammed against the side of the building and the wind let out a loud howl.

The light from the storm momentarily flashed a glimpse of the town below; however, it didn't just show the peaceful suburban buildings and houses of Birmingham. It showed a large funnel of wind about three miles away from them; a funnel, also known, as a tornado.


	2. Chapter 2- Unexpected

Chapter 2- Unexpected

 **02:30pm**

Fear. That was all Draco could feel as he watched the tornado barrel through the quite town of Sparkbrook. He had heard about tornadoes before and he had seen them on the news when they happened in other countries, but never did he think, he would see one in real life.

Draco turned around quickly and began trying to push every button he possibly could to get the elevator doors open. None of them worked. He pulled out his wand when Hermione turned to speak to him.

"Why can't I disapparate?" She asked panicking.

Draco struggled to look at her as the terror on his features took over him. He had forgotten about disapparition; however, he was more concerned about the fact that she was willing to leave him in the broken lift alone, while a giant EF3 tornado might possibly strike his building.

"Head of security put up a charm so no one can apparate in or out." He began to explain, shaking off the anger he held against her. "The anti-apparition ward was placed up about a year ago to prevent anyone from breaking in or stealing valuable company secrets."

"So take it down!" she yelled in distress.

"I can't!" he yelled back in frustration, slamming his fist against the buttons "Only head of security can!" he took in a deep breath, raising his right arm above his head, he leaned against the panel. "It was considered a liability if I was to be kidnapped or someone used a curse on me to gain Intel and copy the work done here." He pushed away from the panel and turned to lean his back against it.

Suddenly, he remembered his wand and went to reach for it out of his suit jacket but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large black object flying at them at full speed.

He stopped grabbing for his wand and instead threw himself on the back of an unsuspecting Hermione. They both fell to the floor with a hard thud; but the pain of the fall was the least of his worries.

A large SUV flew through the sky and crashed into Malfoy Tech., directly above their heads, settling in the elevator shaft. The glass to the elevator car shattered at the impact and the whole building felt like it just exploded. Draco kept his body on top of Hermione as he covered both of their heads from falling glass.

The lights went out and the wind roared through the now open window, blowing his hair all over the place. Draco looked up when the horror of the incident finally subsided and slowly began removing his body off of Hermione.

"What the hell was that?" Hermione asked pushing herself up to her knees "Ow." She looked down at her hand that had a rather large cut on the side of her palm.

Draco looked down at the blood seeping out of her palm and went to pull out his wand to heal it, but she stood up and walked towards the now open window.

Rain continued to pour down, only slightly spraying inside the tiny room, and the wind blew at her blouse as she stepped to the edge and looked out.

"The tornado is moving away." She began before turning her head to look up. "There is a large SUV sticking out from above us. We should probably get out of this lift before it falls with us still in it."

She looked down at the ground below as Draco too, stepped to the edge and leaned his hand on the frame of the window, careful not to touch the broken shards of glass.

People where running around in panic, dodging past turned over cars, and looking at wreaked buildings while crying.

Draco turned back around and brought out his wand. He pointed it at the elevator doors, preparing to blast them open with a Confringo curse.

"Conf- " the curse resting on his lips; but he suddenly felt Hermione grab his arm and push it down.

"No!" she yelled out "Even handled properly, the vibration of the blast might make the lift fall; or worse, it will cause the car on top of us to fall!"

She removed her hand gently and moved back to the window. Draco lowered his wand and turned to face her.

"Do you…" he started and she turned her head to look at him "Do you want me to heal that?" he pointed to her bleeding hand.

"What?...Oh, uh sure, I guess." She slowly faced him and held her hand out to him.

Draco reached out and cupped her hand in his. He had to contain his excitement at touching her soft supple skin. He almost caressed his thumb across hers but he stopped himself. Instead, he lifted his wand and silently cast a healing spell.

The cut on her hand mended in a matter of seconds but instead of letting go right away, he held on to her for a little longer; basking in the idea of being able to freely touch her.

She gently removed her hand from his and held it to her chest; looking at him in disbelief.

"Thanks." She muttered eyeing him up.

Draco lifted his head and nodded ever so softly before placing his wand back in his suit and moving to stand next to her. He brushed the remaining shards of glass from the frame before speaking.

"So…What are we supposed to do?" he asked looking down at the street again.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the car again.

"Well, we can't climb down and levitating at this distance, would not only be dangerous, but muggles would see."

Draco crossed his arms and leaned against the frame.

"Were you really going to leave me here?" he asked not looking at her.

"What?" she asked turning her head to look at him, confused.

"When you asked me why you couldn't disapparate…Were you really trying to leave me in this broken machine while a tornado came towards us?"

"First off, I didn't know you couldn't disapparate in this building and second…I did try to take you with me."

"Come again?" he asked turning his head and eyed her skeptically.

"I tried to take you with me…You didn't feel me grab your arm?" she asked somewhat shocked.

"No…I-"

"Assumed that I was just as callous as you and would leave you here to die?" she scuffed facing back outside.

"I'm not callous!"

"You sure had me fooled." She rolled her eyes.

"I am not the same person I was back in school, Granger. Maybe you should actually get to know me as a person rather than just insult me." He stated rather angrily.

"Right! And I am just supposed to assume you have changed when you are suing me for trying to help those less fortunate?"

"Less fortunate?" he looked at her dumbfounded "No one that works for me is treated unfairly! You saw me fire an employee for disrespecting you, this company, and myself! How much more proof do you need Granger?"

"How about the proof that your staff, who are magical creatures and not wizards or witches, are paid the same amount as everyone else?" she crossed her arms and scowled at him.

"Everyone IS paid fairly!"

"Okay then, why are none of your elves paid anything at all?"

"I tried paying them! They refused any sort of payment! Are you serious? That is why you have been following me around and protesting in front of my office for months?" he questioned fully fed up.

"They shou-"

The elevator trembled and dropped slightly, cutting Hermione off. They both looked up at each other in alarm and realized what was about to happen. They quickly moved towards the door and tried to pry it open, but it was to no avail.

Gravity ceased to exist, for the briefest of moments, before the elevator suddenly dropped, throwing the duo slightly in the air before immediately coming to an abrupt stop, only a few seconds later. Hermione let out a loud cry and Draco a loud grunt as they slammed hard into the car floor, landing on their stomachs.

Draco took a second to figure out what just happened and slowly began to ease himself up on to his arms. He looked up at Hermione, who was also trying to get up.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking right at her.

"I…I think so…Are-are you okay?" she replied looking around.

"As far as I know, yeah." He answered as he began to try and stand up.

Once he was fully up right, he leaned down to try and help Hermione up but she quickly shoved him off and stood up on her own, so he held up his hands and backed away.

Moving to look at the window, he noticed it was now half covered by the thick concrete wall that separated them, from the outside.

"How far did we fall?" Hermione asked, now looking at the window as well.

"I don't know…I can try to look." He eyed the opening; contemplating the best way to proceed.

Touching the edge with his hands, he studied how strong the wall was, before lifting himself up. He used all his strength to balance himself on his arms and leaned forward to look outside.

Looking down, he saw people scrambling around as emergency services filled the street. He yelled out to them, but they didn't seem to hear him; so, he quickly turned his body to the side and looked up at the stuck car above them.

Dropping back down, he turned to face the traumatized Gryffindor.

"Well…we were on floor thirty-six and if my calculations are correct, from where the SUV hit on floor thirty-seven…we dropped four floors."

"Four floors?" she questioned in surprise "Malfoy we need to get out of here, now."

He nodded his head in agreement and walked to the doors. He tried to pry them open again but they wouldn't budge. Hermione stepped up and tried to help him.

They pulled as hard as they could on both sides and the doors began to slowly open. However, the doors caught on something and only left about a two foot gap.

They let out breaths as they stopped pulling and looked at the new opening.

"That is too small to squeeze through." He mentioned looking up at the floor that barely showed above them.

Hermione let out a sigh and continued to scan the lift.

"Wait!" she called out in excitement and Draco quickly looked to her. "What about that?" she asked pointing up at the emergency hatch on the roof of the elevator.

Draco looked up and expelled a small breath through his nose.

"That could work." He nodded still looking up.

"But how do we get up there?" she asked looking around for something to stand on.

"I'll lift you up." He began looking back down at her.

"Okay, but then how do you get up? I'm not strong enough to pull you up."

"You could levitate me up there." he shrugged.

"So then why don't you just levitate me up there instead of lifting me?" she eyed him doubtingly while crossing her arms.

"Because we both know you don't trust me."

"I trust…I trust that you won't throw me out of the lift, if that is what you mean?"

"So…that means that you do trust me, at least a little bit." He smirked but silently cheered in his head.

"Ugh, just levitate me Malfoy!" she stated in frustration, uncrossing her arms "We don't know how much time we have until this thing drops again."

"If."

"If what?" she turned to him in puzzlement.

"You said, until, this thing drops again. You mean, if, this thing drops again. It might not." He explained.

"Do you really believe that it won't?"

"I didn't say that. But it is good to keep a positive head about it." He stated a little annoyed.

"Just lift me." She rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

"Fine."

Draco first slowly levitated the exit panel and moved it slightly to the side, but because the ceiling was blocking the way, he couldn't move it any further; although, there was enough room for both of them to get by it. He then turned to Hermione and pointed his wand directly at her back.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Hermione lifted a few inched off the ground and Draco was pleased with himself. He had not used the first year spell, in almost ten years. He was happy he still had it and prayed to Salazar he didn't drop her as he lifted her higher up.

She reached her arms up as she dived through the exit and grabbed a hold of the edge so that when he released the spell, she could pull herself the rest of the way up.

He let go of the spell and lowered his wand as Hermione lifted herself out of the elevator and moved out of view, towards the floor they were stuck on.

"What do you see?" he called out to her.

She was silent for a few moments and Draco was about to call out to her again, in fear that she left him, but then she finally responded and her head appeared in the opening as she knelt down to look at him.

"The door to this floor is jammed by a piece of rebar…It's stuck in there pretty good. We can't fit through, but there is an opening two floors above on level thirty-five. We can use the ladder on the wall to climb up."

"Okay, lift me." He began, but the sirens, they heard earlier, began to blare again.

He quickly ran to the window and lifted himself up again to see outside. People began to run and scramble for safety and as he looked up, he could see exactly why. Another tornado was brewing in the sky, not far from his building.

"Fuck! Granger, hurry up!"

She pulled out her wand and quickly said the spell need to lift him. He rose through the exit and she set him down gently on the roof of the elevator. He looked around for a second to find the ladder she mentioned. After finding it on the opposite wall from the outside, he rushed to it and waved for her to go first.

Hermione quickly began ascending the ladder with Draco following directly behind her, but the building began to shake again, after almost reaching level thirty-four. The both grabbed on to the bars to hold on as dust and debris from the car fell down the shaft.

The rumbling stopped but it was only for about a minute.

"Go, now!" he yelled up to her, realizing their position was extremely dangerous, and she started to climb again.

The building started to shake again, but this time, a lot harder. They both stopped suddenly and looked up.

The vibrations from storm, was enough to shift the SUV; allowing a large piece of cement from the wall it crashed through, to break free. They held on to the ladder tight, as the tumbling rock fell straight passed them; landing on top of the elevator.

It hit with enough force that the cables holding the lift in place, buckled; making the whole lift fall the rest of the way down.

Another piece of cement came hurdling towards them when the lift crashed to the ground, nearly missing them as it bounced off the walls. It hit the ladder slightly below him and the impact caused a decent chunk of the ladder to break off. It had also made Hermione lose her hold on the bar.

She screamed as she started to fall but he reached out and grabbed her hand, catching her. He repositioned his right arm on the bar as he tried to hold her weight with his left with everything he had. She held on to him with both hands and looked up at him in consternation.

"Please!" she started to cry as she begged and gripped tighter to his arm. "Please don't let go!"

The fear in her voice was something Draco, never wished to hear.

"I won't let go but I need you to help me, okay?" He tried to say calmly but even he could hear the shakiness in his voice.

She nodded her head as tears slowly ran down her cheeks. She started to look down when something in her pocket fell, but he quickly stopped her.

"Don't look down, alright" her head snapped back up to him as she dangled in the air. "Look at me, keep your eyes on me." He looked up and tried to calculate how much further they needed to go to get to the open floor, before looking back down at her. "I need you to grab the ladder as I lift you, okay? On the count of three, I am going to pull."

Hermione nodded her head as she kept her eyes on him the whole time.

"One…" he moved his right arm to wrap around the bar "two…three."

Draco began lifting her; letting out a loud groan while he used all his strength to lift Hermione up. Once he couldn't lift his arm any higher, she removed her left hand from his arm and reached out to grab the bar near his chest.

He moved slightly to the side so she could fully grab on and released her hand. Shaking his left arm in the air after removing the weight of a human being from it, he rested his hand on the small of her back to support her.

Hermione clung to the ladder and rested her head on the bar as she began to cry. After a few seconds, she took in a deep breath and let it out quickly.

"Thank you." she claimed after getting her emotions under control.

"I told you…I'm not callous."

She expelled a light laugh and slowly turned her head to him. She gave him a weary smile and he was glad he could sort of cheer her up after she almost just fell to her death; even though he wasn't trying to make a joke at the moment.

A smile played at the corner of his mouth but the moment was lost as the car above them began to shift again.

They looked up and realized the SUV, was about to fall. Not wanting to risk being in the shaft when the thing fell, he quickly looked down at Hermione with wide eyes.

"Climb!" he stated in alarm.

Hermione didn't even say a word as her lips parted slightly and dread filled her features. She quickly shifted herself and started climbing as fast as she could. Draco waited until she was about two bars ahead of him before he too began to climb.

The SUV jerked as the concrete floor it rested on, started to give way.

"Hermione, I need you to climb faster!" Draco mentioned with worry not even caring that he called her by her given name.

If they were going to die in that moment, then he figured the least he could do, was call her by her first name.

Hermione started climbing faster as rubble from above, fell down on them. They were a few feet away from the open floor when the car jerked again. Draco looked up and noticed a rolling chair, on its side, was now the only thing stopping the car from completely falling on top of them as it blocked one of the front wheels.

Hermione was about a foot away from their exit when the chair gave way and the floor collapsed from the weight of the vehicle.

"Go, go, go, go, GO!" Draco shouted with fright.

She finished her climb as the SUV came plummeting at him. Draco reached the entrance of the floor and Hermione grabbed his arms, pulling him out of the way right as the vehicle fell past him; but not before hitting his left calf.


	3. Chapter 3- Descent

Chapter 3- Descent

 **03:16pm**

Draco let out a loud cry of agony as he rolled over bending his right knee. His left leg was in severe pain but he was grateful he was at least alive.

"Oh my God!" Hermione screamed out, kneeling over his leg.

He let out a hiss as he lifted himself up on his elbows to see the damage. He couldn't tell if his leg was broken or not through all the blood that was seeping out of his ripped slacks, on the side of his calf, but it sure felt like it was.

Hermione's hands hovered over the injury as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Your wand, Malfoy give me your wand!" she looked at him and held out her hand.

"My wand?" he asked through gritted teeth as he tried to think of anything other than the pain. "Where is your wand?"

"It fell out of my pocket in the lift shaft."

"Well that is just bloody great!" he stated laying his head back down on the ground.

Hermione however, was impatient and began patting his chest down. When he felt her press on his wand, resting on his left peck, she pulled it out and let out a gasp.

He lifted his head to see what she was so shocked about and he saw his wand in her hand; it was snapped in half.

"Fuck!" he expelled in frustration as he threw his head back again and placed the back of his right hand on his forehead.

"I have to clear the blood away; I can't see how bad the wound is."

Hermione turned and started looking around the hallway. Draco too, began to look around and saw just how much damage was done to his high-rise.

Lights that were once in the ceiling, flickered and dangled from the rafters, letting off electrical sparks as they swung back and forth. Sprinklers had also gone off and drenched the floor and furniture with water. Papers and ceiling titles were scattered all over the place and a small fire was glowing at the end of the hallway to his right.

He turned his head and spotted an unbroken mug lying on the floor to his left, a few feet away from him and he suddenly got an idea.

"Granger, there is a mug over there." he pointed down the hall. "If you can find an unbroken chair you can stand on it and fill the mug with the water coming from the sprinklers."

She looked at where the mug was and moved herself away from him. She ducked when a light suddenly let off a large spark but continued to walk quickly to the mug. Picking it up, she looked around for something to stand on.

Finding an arm chair, lying on its side, in front of an office, she moved to pick it up and placed it under a spraying sprinkler. She stepped up and covered her face as the water sprayed on her but she covered the head and waited for the mug to fill before removing it and stepping down.

She rushed back to him, dodging another few spark and knelt back beside him.

"This is going to sting." She stated in a sad tone.

She was about to start pouring the water on his leg but stopped and looked at him.

"What? Just pour it." he ordered confused.

Hermione however, set the mug down and leaned in, grabbing his shoulders, and tried to lift him.

"What ar-"

"Sit up." She demanded.

He did what she asked but only with her help, did he succeed. He leaned back on his hands and she started to take his jacket off.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked now thoroughly perplexed.

"Take off your jacket!" she ordered.

"Now is not the right time to try and get it in, Granger." He tried to joke as he lifted his left arm to remove it from the sleeve, but she just rolled her eyes at him.

Without thinking, he moved his left leg as he leaned to his right to help her and he let off a hiss through his teeth as pain shot through his nerves. He leaned back and rested his left hand on the ground as Hermione moved to take the jacket the rest of the way off.

He watched as she tried to find the seam on one of the arms, in fascination and confusion. Suddenly she ripped the fabric in one foul pull and his mouth fell open.

"That was not a cheap jacket!" he claimed somewhat angry.

"Now is not the time to worry about that." she ripped off the other arm at it seam "Besides, I am sure you can afford another. Now lay back down."

He scoffed at her in protest but she pushed his shoulder, forcing him to comply.

"Here." She handed him the rest of his jacket. "Bunch it up and put it in your mouth."

He raised a brow and looked at her with worry.

"Just do it." she pleaded.

Draco eyed her with skepticism but slowly lifted what was left of his jacket, and placed it between his teeth. Once he was ready, Hermione tied the two sleeves together and lifted the mug. She began to pour the cold liquid, gently and carefully onto his leg.

The sudden contact of icy water, touching his open wound, caused pain to soar through Draco's entire body. His leg felt like it was on fire and he bit down on the fabric in his mouth, hard.

At first he thought Hermione was crazy, asking him to put clothing in his mouth, but now he realized just why she made him do it. Not only did the fabric act as a guard, to protect his tongue and teeth, but it gave him support while he clamped his eyes closed and screamed as if tortured.

"I'm sorry." she sadly winced, still pouring the water on his calf.

Once the mug was empty, she set it down and used the end of one of the sleeves to wipe away some of the left over blood.

"It's not broken from what I can see. It's just a large gash…I'm going to have to wrap it…This...This is going to hurt."

His eyes turned to sorrow and he let out a breath but lifted his head to watch what she was doing.

She took the tied sleeves and maneuvered herself so she could lift his leg slightly. Pivoting her body to be directly below him, she propped his foot on her lap. Sliding the sleeves under his leg she began to wrap the deep cut.

It wasn't as painful as she made it out to be but the makeshift bandage was rather tight.

"What is your favorite potion?" she asked out of nowhere while wrapping one sleeve under the other.

"What? That is random, Granger." He asked removing the fabric from his teeth and looked directly in her eyes.

"Just answer the question, Malfoy."

"I…I don't know…Veritas-" he began to say but as the last word tumbled off his lips, Hermione tightened the band around his leg, fast and hard.

Draco let out another cry, laying back down as he shoved the jacket in his mouth and bit down with full force.

"It's better if you don't see it coming. It hurts less." She explained after he stopped screaming in pain,.

Lifting his foot off her lap and setting it down with tenderness.

"Bloody hell woman!" he shouted removing the garment from his mouth. "That hurt like a bitch!"

"If you looked at it and anticipated the pain, Malfoy, it would have hurt a lot more."

He rolled his eyes and winced as he tried to sit up. She helped him up and he half wanted to shove her away for causing him so much grief in the span of an hour, but he didn't. Instead, he allowed her to help him.

Looking around they both contemplated on what to do next.

"We can't stay here. Who knows how sturdy the building is. We can't afford to be so high up if it decides to give way." She began.

"Last time you said that, we almost had a large piece of floor and a vehicle, take us down in the lift."

"Yeah well, I was right wasn't I?…Come on. We need to find the stairs."

Hermione moved to help him stand. Draco was sure that lifting him was not an easy feat for her but she did it without complaint and he was impressed. He leaned his hands against the wall near the elevator shaft to support him-self and looked down the hallway, trying to remember which way the stairs were in the mess.

"The stairs are that way." He claimed, finally remembering the layout.

Hermione looked at the end of the hall to the left and nodded her head.

"Okay…Here, wrap an arm around me. It would be faster and easier on you if I supported your weight."

He wasn't about to argue with her so he nodded his head, slightly embarrassed that he needed her help to walk, but moved an arm to wrap around the back of her neck and shoulder. Hermione slid her right arm around his back and rested her left on his abs to support him.

They began to slowly walk down the hallway and Draco wondered where all his employees were.

They were stuck in an elevator when both tornadoes struck, so he assumed they all took the stairs to get out. He hoped they all made it.

Reaching the door with a sign that had a stick figure looking to be moving down zig-zagged lines, above it; they had finally made it to one of the stairwells. Hermione reached out and opened the door; she repositioned herself so her back could hold the door open, while Draco limped his way through.

Once he was all the way through, she leaned off the door and moved back to fully support him. The stairs seemed untouched by the disaster so Draco shimmied his way towards the railing so he could take some of his weight off the poor girl.

They began their descent but Draco knew it would be a long one. Even if he wasn't injured, climbing down thirty-five sets of stairs, with two flights for each each floor, would take a while.

Draco almost slipped when they got to the third set of stairs but Hermione wrapped both her arms around him and caught him before he fell.

"Are you alright?" she asked slowly moving her hands back to their original position.

"Yeah." He replied after taking in a deep breath. "…Why are you helping me? You hate me remember? Wouldn't you want to leave me to fend for myself?"

"I told you," she began as they started to continue down again "I am not like you."

"I wouldn't leave you." he cut it quickly.

"I know…You did save my life already."

Draco lowered his head and they walked in silence for a few more minutes.

"I don't actually hate you Malfoy." Hermione broke the silence "Not anymore, at least."

"I wouldn't blame you, if you still did…hate me."

"Well I don't. I just think you could treat your workers better."

"I do. Everyone gets paid well and I made sure everyone has health insurance and a 401k. Everyone is treated fairly." He explained.

"What about the elves, Malfoy?" She turned her head to look at him "What about those poor creatures that work for nothing."

"Granger, they don't want to be taken care of."

"Sure they do. Th-"

"Have you ever thought that they like being able to help without expecting anything in return?" he asked curiously, stopping on the bottom steps on the twenty-sixth floor to give them each a break.

Hermione stepped back as Draco slid down the wall to sit.

"Do you like being taken care of…or, do you expect payment for helping someone?" he continued.

Hermione tilted her head and raised a brow.

"That is different. They are hired to work for you and you don't pay them." she retorted in a huff.

"I tried to pay them. I can't force someone to take money when they don't want it."

"You could give it to them secretly." She suggested.

"Do you hear yourself, Granger?" he asked passively, lifting his eyes to her. "They don't want to be paid. I can at least respect them enough to do what they asked."

Hermione stood speechless for about a minute as her mouth opened and closed a few times.

"I do respect them." she finally claimed leaning her back on the wall to his right.

"But not enough to just let them be?" he questioned looking down at his hands. "…look, Granger, I am willing to retract the law suit if you stop pestering me about how I treat my workers, if you don't actually know the whole story. You attack me because of old grudges and I am sorry for how I treated you and your friends, but that shouldn't affect how you view me now."

Her head snapped up and her eyes pressed into him hard with shock.

"I…I-"

Draco held up a hand to stop her.

"Let me finish." He took in a deep breath "I was young and stupid and I was influenced by my arse of a father to hate anyone lesser than me…I actually liked Dobby and I feel terrible that he died. I was also envious of you and your friendship with Potter and Weasley. None of my friends…well, none of them were really friends. Everything I did and said…I'm sorry." he looked at her forlorn.

Hermione didn't speak as she looked at him with her lips slightly parted and inhaled lightly almost as if she wanted to say something.

"We," she cleared her throat. "We should get moving."

She moved away from the wall and went to help a disappointed Draco, stand up. Once they were situated they continued their descent down the stairs.

They were unfortunately stopped though, when they reached level sixteen. Their pathway was blocked by a caved in ceiling. Rubble piled on top of the stairs, successfully preventing them from being able to go any further.

"It must have fallen during one of the times the building shook." Draco mentioned as he looked for any sort of opening through the large pile of cement.

"We will have to go through this floor and find the other set of stairs." Hermione stated, looking at the door leading to floor sixteen. "

"The stairs are on the other side of the building. We are going to have to cross the whole floor to get there and hope, that they are still intact. Otherwise we are stuck up here."

Hermione nodded her head and moved to open the door. As soon as the door opened however, a wave of heat hit their faces and smoke began to billow out.

She looked around the corner with caution while waving a hand in her face but quickly drew her head back with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"We can't go through this way." She claimed a little unnerved.

"And why the hell not?"

Draco hobbled a step and leaned to look into the hallway. The sight stunned him as he looked around the corner through the smoke.

A large fire roared through the floor, overtaking everything in its path. The sprinkler system was ineffective at taming the flames that covered almost every inch of the level that he could see, including the ceiling. Their way out was definitely blocked and there was no getting to the stairs from there; if the stairs were even still there.

Pulling back, he looked back up the stairs and then back to the door before turning his body to limp back up the way they came.

Going back up, was a lot harder on both of them than going down, but they reached floor seventeen after they both had to stop to catch their breaths.

Hermione once again, opened the door and looked down the hall with caution. She gave the all clear nod and started walking through the door. Once they were through, Draco noticed the floor was not in as bad of shape as the one they started on. Papers were still scattered everywhere but that was the most in damage that he could see.

They passed by a few abandoned offices on their way to their destination and they both called out for anyone who might still be on the level. But no one answered and no one was coming to help them.

They took a break in one of the offices so Hermione could look at his leg wound. She searched all the drawers in the desk and filing cabinets before she found two bottles of water and a muggle first aid kit.

Draco propped his leg up on a chair she had turned over before she began her search, in front of the large wooden desk. Hermione set the items down and lifted his leg so that she could sit and have his foot rest on her lap.

They sat in silence for a while as she began to undress his wound. The relief from the pressure of the dressing, felt amazing to Draco, but he didn't say a word as she set the bloody fabric from his jacket on the floor. She lifted the bottom of his slacks to get a better look before turning back to the desk.

She opened a bottle of water and handed it to him to drink before opening the second one. He took a swig of the delicious liquid but almost spit it out as she poured the other bottle onto his open wound. He jerked his body at the painful feeling and she quickly apologized for the action.

However, he realized she was going to pour the whole bottle on to his leg and she didn't even drink any of it first. He looked down at the water in his hand before looking back up to the girl he cared deeply for. He already liked her but now that she showed she cared for him somewhat, while she tenderly cleaned him up; he realized he was starting to fall in love with her.

He shook his head at the thought because he knew she would never want to be with him and falling in love with her would only make his loneliness, worse.

She was only taking care of him because no one else around was there to do it. Although, she did seem to be warming up to him. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, one day, he could show her just how much he really did change.

Draco looked back at the half drunk water in his hand and held it out to the girl nursing him back to health.

"Here."

She lifted her head and looked at the bottle before looking to him and shook her head.

"No, you need it more than I do right now." she replied as she gently applied an ointment with a cotton ball to his leg.

"Please take it." he pleaded.

She slowly looked back up to him and eyed the bottle like she was arguing with herself.

"Please Hermione…Take it." he pleaded again.

Hermione's face fell at the sound of her name but she reached out and took the bottle from him. She eyed it like she didn't want to drink the last bit they both knew he needed, but she lifted the bottle up to her lips and started drinking.

She ended up finishing the water in a few large gulps and then set the bottle on the ground.

"Better?" he asked not taking his eyes off of her.

She nodded her head but didn't say anything as she went back to dressing his cut; his eyes though, never left her pretty face.

"You're beautiful." He let slip in a whisper.

He didn't mean to say it out loud. He was merely thinking it but and the words just rolled off his lips like he had no control. He quickly looked down at his hands in embarrassment and prayed to Salazar she didn't hear him.

If he was looking at her though, he would have seen her head snap up quickly with shock. But he didn't look. He refused to as his cheeks reddened in humiliation.

"Thank you." she muttered after what felt like hours to him.

Draco lifted his head and saw her lower hers. A small smile played on her lips but she continued with the task she was doing. He smiled back and realized he was making progress. She didn't freak out like he expected her to, nor did she ignore him. Instead, she acknowledged him and even thanked him. He wondered if she cared for him more than he thought she did.

He had to admit, the signs where there. She allowed him to heal her hand and she trusted him enough to let him levitate her out of the lift. She even trusted him to pull her to safety when she fell; and now she was taking care of him, more than the average person now a day would care for him. Anyone else would have either left him or not even bother to prepare him for the pain that ensued while dressing his wound.

Draco Malfoy was an ex-Death Eater. A failed one but he still used to be one. And a lot of people were not only scared of him, but scared of his father who was locked away in Azkaban with a life sentence. Even though he had changed and his father was in prison, people still feared him. He hated it.

As a child he loved the attention of people being scared of him but in the adult world, it wasn't as much fun. He had no friends because of it and no woman, except Ms. Tate, wanted to be with him. But Hermione, she never showed cowardice when facing him. She always stood her ground and fought back. She wasn't afraid to be around him and her actions today, showed that.

But what he really wanted to know, was whether or not she was helping him because she wanted to, or if she was doing it because she now owed him a life debt for saving her.

"All done." She looked up and smiled, interrupting his thoughts.

She had dressed his wound in clean white bandages and he had to admit, his leg already started to feel better. She took something, in a small package, out of the first aid kit and tore it open; handing him two tiny tablets.

"We don't have any more water and I should have given these to you before you drank anything, but you should be okay to swallow them no problem."

"What are these?" he questioned, touching the two white tablets in his palm.

"Aspirin." she stated. "It will help with the pain and swelling."

"Is this muggle medicine?" he asked, surprisingly interested.

"Yes…it will take about an hour or so though, for it to kick in."

Draco didn't question her anymore and popped the two pills into his mouth. He struggled slightly with the swallowing but he managed to do it after a few seconds.

He looked up to her and smiled but once again the moment was ruined by a large crashing sound just down the hall from them. A crash, followed by a loud scream.


	4. Chapter 4- Almost

Chapter 4- Almost

04:09pm

Draco and Hermione's face fell when they heard a loud scream. Hermione's head whipped around quickly before she looked back to Draco with panic in her brown eyes.

Draco lifted his left leg with his hands, off of her lap and she quickly stood up. She ran to the office door and looked out. She looked back to him, seeming to be conflicted on helping him up or running to the person who screamed.

"Go!" he told her firmly "I'll manage."

She nodded her head but still looked torn to leave him.

"Granger, Go!"

With that, she rushed out of the room and ran down the hall. Draco rested his hands on the arms of the chair he was sitting in and managed to lift him-self to stand up. He hobbled on his right leg, trying not to put too much weight on his left as he balanced himself on the desk.

Turning around, he looked at the door and closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. Letting the air out slowly he began to add some weight to his injured leg. The pain was not as bad as when he first received the cut but it still was not great. It was however, okay enough to limp on without the help of Hermione.

He stumbled when he took a step and almost fell into the wall but he managed to catch himself and decided to use the wall as a minor crutch.

Gliding his hands across the wall, he limped his way out of the room. He had managed to get halfway down the hall when he came to a cross road and realized, he didn't know which way Hermione went. The building was like a maze and he never really walked on any other floor but the lobby and his own.

He stood at the intersection trying to make up his mind and pick a path. He decided to go left when he heard another scream, followed by shouting, to the right.

Turning right immediately, he began limping down the hall.

"HELLO! GRANGER, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" he shouted out.

But as Draco got closer to where he thought he heard the scream, the noise in hallway started to fill with a loud roaring noise.

"GRANGER!" he called out again.

"MALFOY!" He heard Hermione's panicked voice and quickly limped as fast as he could to area that held a whole room full of cubicles.

He walked in to the large room but he could not see Hermione anywhere. He looked around frantic and tried to peer over the dividers separating each station, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Granger!" he cupped his hands and yelled out.

"Over here! Hurry!"

He looked in the direction to the left and followed where her voice came from, as quickly as he could.

Upon seeing her, his stomach twisted. She was laying down over a large hole in the floor appearing to be holding on to something, as a man, who looked to have seen better days, sat behind her, leaned up against a desk.

"What the?"

Hermione's head snapped to him when she heard his voice and the horror in her eyes, brought fear to his.

"Help me!" she cried in a plea.

Draco didn't know how sturdy the floor was, so he lowered himself to the ground like he learnt to do one brutal winter at Hogwarts, when Theodore Nott fell through the ice on the Black Lake and almost drowned. No one else volunteered to risk their lives to get him, so Draco balanced his weight evenly across the ice so it wouldn't crack more, and ended up saving him.

He crawled his way over to Hermione who was now struggling to hold on to whatever it was that fell in the hole.

Looking over the edge he saw a woman dangling in the air. Hermione was just barely holding on to her as the woman kicked and panicked to try pull herself up. The raging fire they saw on the level below them had weakened the floor, causing it to collapse, and was now beginning to flare up.

The woman let out another scream as the fires intensity rose and played at her feet. Draco quickly reached in and grabbed her arm but the lady was sweating, due to the heat, and he couldn't get a good grip on her.

Looking around for something, anything, the woman could grab a hold of, was useless. She didn't have enough time and the flames were getting higher. The floor shook as piece of the floor dropped into flaming Hell below.

He needed to move fast. He didn't have his wand and he could see Hermione's grip begin to slip. The only thing that he could think to do, was use what he had on him.

Draco ripped the buttons off his white shirt as he took it off, leaving him in just a plain white under tank. He twirled it in his hands while holding the cuffs of his sleeves, so it made a makeshift looking rope. He quickly crawled back over to the fallen woman and Hermione, who were both struggling to hold on.

An explosion of fire burst up out of the hole, only a few inches from what he could see, away from the woman. She let out a scream of pain and fear and he watched her slip further out of the Gryffindor's grasp.

Moving fast, Draco wrapped his shirt around the woman's back and brought the sleeves up and around under her armpits twice, giving her support as the fabric tightened around her arms.

Rebar in the form of a square, stuck out from the broken floor and it gave Draco another idea. Wrapping the sleeves of the shirt around his wrists he turned his head to look at Hermione.

"Granger, let go!" he shouted over the deafening roar of the fire "I've got her."

Hermione looked at him with worry and doubt but she seemed to trust him enough, and removed her hands. The woman cried bloody murder as she released her hold, and gasped on to Draco's wrists; her body swinging in front of him.

He quickly turned his body and placed his good leg in front of him. He stuck his heel in between the gap of the metal bar and began to pull with everything he had.

The woman rose halfway out of the hole and Hermione quickly moved in to grab her belt and hoist her, the rest of the way up. Draco fell backwards at the loss of weight but quickly sat up and scurried away from the edge.

Once he deemed that he was far enough away, he laid back and tried to catch his breath while sweat poured down the sides of his face. Hermione however, was beating the flames off of the woman's legs with the shirt he used to pull her up and managed to contain the embers.

He started to crawl over to the pair and saw how badly burnt the woman's legs were as she shook on the ground. There was no way she would be able to walk out of this building and he couldn't possible carry her with his own leg injured. Hermione wouldn't be able to carry them both either and she too, looked to have known that.

He at least knew he could limp his way around for a short period of time but there was still the badly injured guy, leaning against the desk, they would also have to move out of the room.

But before he could think any more, Hermione moved from her knelt position at the ladies side and went to pull the man away from the edge. Once he was out of reach of the flames she knelt back down and began to panic.

"I don't…I don't know what to do! There is nothing…around for me to help. We don't have our wands and there is no water, or…or…or blankets. Oh god, what do I do? What d-"

"Granger!" he called out to her but she didn't hear him through her rambling.

"Granger!" he yelled out again.

She still wasn't listening to him so he crawled closer to her. She turned her head to face him with tears streaming down her ash covered face.

"I don't know what to do." She sobbed.

Draco looked at her with sympathy and cupped her cheek in his left hand. She cried some more, not evening caring that he was touching her, so he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a hug.

He held on to her as she cried into his neck, not really knowing himself what to do. He looked down at the burned woman as he continued to hug Hermione, and noticed she was not shaking anymore. In fact, she was now no longer breathing.

The fire and the panic state she was in, appeared to be too much for her. Half of her body was covered in third degree burns and he didn't even want to know what her back looked like after the explosion of flames, burst behind her.

He snuck a peek at the guy Hermione had dragged over and also noticed, he too, was not breathing as he lay on his side.

Draco didn't know how to tell Hermione that their efforts were for not as he held her head to him. He didn't even know how to tell her that there was nothing else she even could do.

She pulled her head back and wiped her tears away from her reddened cheeks after crying on him for several minutes. She let out a deep sigh and looked down at her hands.

"I know they weren't going to make it." she whispered and he almost didn't hear her over the roaring fire. "I…" she looked over to the woman "I just couldn't let them die in that fiery grave…I…I would want someone to do the same for me…We don't even know who they are."

Draco had no idea what to say; there was nothing he really could say. He looked down at the woman and saw a name tag on her charred blouse.

"Leena…Accounting." He read the tag sadly.

Hermione raised her eyes to him with a heavy expression before turning her head to look at the deceased man.

"Nate…Human…Human Resources." She stuttered slightly while trying to stifle another cry.

"Now, we know who they are." He took a breath and studied the brave Gryffindor in front of him for a couple of seconds. "…We should get going. The fire below will keep weakening the structure and we don't want to be here when it does." He claimed softly.

She nodded her head and went to stand up. Holding out a hand she helped Draco to his feet; but as he went to wrap his right arm around her to support himself, she stopped him.

His face was one of confusion as she looked into his grey eyes with parted lips. Her gaze flashed to his lips before returning to his eyes.

"Gran-"

She cut him off with a fast and hard kiss. His eyes widened in the shock and before he had a chance to return the kiss, she pulled away.

Draco looked at her, dumbfounded, and tried to think of every possible situation that would make him deserve any type of affection from Hermione Granger.

"Oh God…I…I am so sorry….I don't…I don't know wh-" she began staring wide eyed at him; but he refused to let her finish.

He pulled her back to him in one quick motion and placed his lips on hers. He waited a second, not wanting to seem greedy, to see what she would do. She eventually accepted the kiss and flicked her tongue; giving him permission, to deepen the experience.

Draco cupped her face with his left hand and pressed more into her; their tongues exploring one another's and her taste, her taste was like candy on his lips and her essence, it was like something he had been missing his whole life and finally found.

He wanted her, but not in just a sexual way, he wanted her smarts, her personality; her love. He wanted, all of her.

Hermione broke the kiss after less than a minute, and turned partially away from him. But he could see her lick her lips as if savoring the taste of him and he watched, as she began holding her fingers delicately up to her mouth with a small smiling resting on her beautiful, now plump, swollen, lips.

She didn't look at him once, but he sure as hell couldn't stop looking at her.

That was it. That, was all he needed, to confirm that he was in love with Hermione Granger; the Know-it-all, Bookworm Golden Girl, Gryffindor Princess, whose life he had made unbearable back at Hogwarts.

But a simple kiss was not something that would make her love him. It wasn't even something that would make her forgive him for the terrible shit he used to put her through. However, it was a start.

Draco continued to stare at the girl of his dreams as the situation suddenly turned awkward. They both just stood there, not saying a word, while a raging fire brewed under their feet. Finally though, Hermione turned to him and while she tried to look anywhere but in his eyes, he could tell his kiss left its imprint where it needed to.

"We uh…We should go." she stated, flickering her gaze from his face to the floor while nervously waving a hand in the air.

"Okay." He replied placing his hands in the pockets of pants.

Hermione started walking off without him and he stood there for a brief moment in bliss; remembering every detail of her touch before finally realizing, she was leaving without him and he couldn't run to catch up.

"Um…Granger?" he turned towards the exit.

"Yeah?" she turned around and looked at him, as if waiting for him to ask his question.

It took her all of five seconds before she understood why he was just standing there.

"Oh! Right, sorry." she rushed back over to him and lifted his left arm to wrap around her neck.

They slowly hobbled out of the room in awkward silence as they made their way to the other set of stairs. Problem was, after dealing with the rush of trying to save lives that ended up perishing anyway, they got turned around. They were both, now lost.

"Which way?" she asked, looking around an intersecting hallway.

"I don't know." He responded also looking around, trying to remember which way he came from originally.

"But this is your building, Malfoy. How do you not know?"

"It's not like I have the blueprints imprinted in my head, Granger. I didn't build the place."

"But you own it. You should know every detail of the layout."

"I am only ever on two floors. I have no need to visit other levels, so I found no need to know the schematics."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"What?" he questioned annoyed.

"Nothing." she stated a little too harshly.

"That is not a nothing, nothing that is a something, nothing, so tell me what that nothing is."

"What?" she looked at him with a raised brow in confusion.

"What?" he shrugged.

"You…I…What?" she stammered.

"Okay, I am officially confused."

"Me too."

"Why don't we just go this way?" he suggested pointing to the right.

"Um…okay." She agreed but she looked weary of just picking a path at random.

"Look, Granger, we either pick a way and hope for the best or we stand here forever until someone comes and rescues us; which could take hours for firefighters to set up a plan and make it up this high."

"This way is fine." She said with a faint coldness in her voice.

Draco nodded his head and they head off down the hall. It bothered him how her mood changed so quickly. One minute she was kissing him and then the next, she was back to being sour. He wondered if the kiss was a mistake. They were so caught up in the heat of the moment that the kiss just happened. He wanted it to happen but maybe, just maybe, she regretted it.

They ended up finding the stairs without a problem but her attitude towards him grew and he was getting fed up with it. He held his tongue though, through the rest of their journey but she kept picking fights with him for no reason and it baffled the living daylights out of him.

They had made it to the third floor when Draco finally had enough.

"What is your problem?" he stopped walking, causing her to halt in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs in front of the door for level three.

"Nothing." she replied slightly angry.

"Obviously it is something! You have nonstop been trying to start a fight with me the whole way down; even when I tried ignoring you. Apparently, shutting you out just makes you more angry but fighting back revs you up more! What do you want from me?" he threw his hands in the air.

Hermione stood there motionless; shock that he finally came back at her. But as soon as she went to open her mouth to retort, the buildings foundation shifted due to the damage caused by the storm; the storm that was still raging outside the small window in the stairwell.

They both dropped their heads to look at the floor and try to keep their balance, but the shaking stopped just as quickly as it started. Draco raised his head slowly; his grey eyes met brown before the ground below them, collapsed and he could no longer see the brave beauty in front of him.


	5. Chapter 5- Confessions

Chapter 5- Confessions

 **05:19pm**

Once again, Draco Malfoy held Hermione's life in his hands. The floor below her collapsed as the building began to tilt off balance. He had managed to lung himself forward and reached her in time, before she fell to her death.

It was not like it was her fault though. Life threatening situations seemed to follow both of them around since the war; more her though, than him.

Draco struggled as he held on to her right hand while lying over the large hole in the ground. Hermione dangled in the air panicking and the sight only reminded him of the woman in accounting and the fire below her. He didn't want to lose Hermione like they lost that lady; she might have annoyed him with her constant bickering but that wasn't enough for him to stop caring about her.

"Give me your other hand!" he shouted over her screams.

Hermione looked up at him before looking back to the seemingly bottomless pit below. The one thing he told her last time, not to do. She began crying and panicked more; flailing her left arm to try and grab whatever she could to help her get up. He somehow managed to grab a hold of her hand as she flailed and held on tight.

"Granger! Stop!" he yelled and she instantly froze; her eyes large and glazed over from tears. "I can't help you if you are panicking."

"Please…Draco please." She begged.

The sound of her saying his given name for the first time, made him freeze. Although, hearing it while she begged for her life; that is the only time he never wished to hear his name from her mouth. His heart broke but he knew if he was going to save her, she needed to stay still.

The ground he laid on dropped forward a few inches and Hermione began to panic again.

"HERMIONE!" he screamed.

Draco had no idea how she was able to see him through her tear stricken eyes and he could only hide his fear for so much longer.

"Hermione." He began softening his voice "I have you. I am not letting you go…I will _never,_ let you go."

She looked up at him, almost seeming to understand the underlying meaning of the words he spoke.

"I need you to trust me…Do you trust me?"

He expected her to hesitate but she nodded her head quickly and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I trust you." she whispered.

As soon as she said those words, Draco began pulling her up with everything he had left in him. He was not as strong as he was at the beginning of the day and his arms were feeling weak after having to hold on to someone hanging, three times now.

But he wasn't giving up. He was not going to lose her.

Draco had gotten Hermione to the point where he could move his hands to grab her upper arms but as soon as he was about to pull her all the way out of the hole, the ground gave way again. This time, it took both of them with it.

He held his promise the best he could; he never once let go of her as they tumbled through the air. They had fallen two floors, landing hard on their sides, knocking the air out of both of them; they never got to catch their breaths though. The weakened structure shifted again and instantly they fell through another floor.

Landing on top of a car in the parking garage below, the alarm was the last thing Draco heard before he was knocked unconscious from hitting the back of his head on the front windshield.

 **05:42pm**

Draco awoke to a screaming noise he wished would just shut up. He slowly lifted his head and felt the back as a headache grew. Warm wet blood trickled through his blonde hair and large bump was already starting to swell as his vision started to clear up. It was then, he remembered what happened and it was only then, he realized who was screaming.

"Hermione?" he panicked looking around.

The car alarm sound began to fade as it died from a large piece of concrete landing on top of it and Draco noticed, it was only inches from where his head had laid. Shaking off the shock of almost being crushed to death, he continued to look around for Hermione.

Sliding off the front of the car he stumbled into a pillar; forgetting his leg was injured. He caught himself but instantly realized his right shoulder was dislocated. He was surprised he didn't notice he couldn't move his arm earlier, but the idea of almost dying, apparently was a good enough distraction.

Before he could do anything about it though, he heard another scream. It wasn't one of fear however, it was one of suffering. He knew the scream of pain, anywhere.

"Granger!" he called out as he walked around the car and in the direction of the noise.

He heard light whimpering to his right, about fifty yards away from where he fell, and began limping his way over to it. There was a large metal beam on top of a huge piece of cement flooring, blocking his path, so he turned to his left and tried to walk around it.

Draco's pace was slow but he was determined to fight the agony he was enduring and make it to whimpering sound. Finally making his way around the fallen debris, he rounded the corner but saw nothing.

The whimpering was definitely louder and he knew she was close; but he couldn't see her and his heart started to beat faster.

"Granger?"

A few coughs echoed through the garage, followed by a light cry, and then, he heard her.

"Draco?"

Dread overcame him as the idea finally registered that she was under the rubble he was looking at. Rushing as fast as he could, on a hurt leg, around the broken pieces of cement, he saw her.

Draco stopped as soon as the sight of her came into view. For a moment, his body stayed frozen, only a few meters away from her. She tilted her head up to look at him and a small smiled played at her lips as she expelled a grateful breath.

"Merlin…Hermione…" he sighed as he examined the damaged building around her.

The rubble itself wasn't actually sitting on top of her. It almost created a cave like look, just below her waist; protecting her from anymore harm. But the rubble is not what had him concerned. The rubble is not what made him freeze.

Hermione lowered her head back down and they both looked at what the real issue was.

A large piece of rebar, about a foot long, was sticking out of the right side of her abdomen. Her blood was already starting to leak out from under her as she hovered her hands over the impaled area.

He finally shook the shock away and moved to crouch next to her. Her whole right side was blocked by a large piece of flooring, so he knelt down on his knees to her left.

"Your shoulder." She stated calmly, looking at his dislocation.

But Draco could see, even through her calm demeanor, she was in severe pain.

"Shh...Don't worry about me, okay?" He almost whispered as he looked from the rebar to her face.

"But…please let me help you fix it."

He couldn't help but let out a light laugh as he gazed into her eyes.

"You are impaled with a metal bar and you want to try and help me pop my shoulder back into place?" he raised a brow and smiled "You are something else, you know that?" he chuckled again.

"I…I don't want to pop it back in for you…" she began giggling, but she quickly winced at the discomfort the movement caused her and Draco moved to hover his hand over her.

He didn't want to touch her in case it hurt her more but he had no idea how to help her.

"I…can walk…you through the steps-"

"Shh, Hermione. Don't talk, okay? You need to save your strength."

"Please?"

He looked back up into her beautiful brown eyes and instantly melted. He couldn't say no to her, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Okay, Granger…Tell me what to do."

"Call me, Hermione…please?"

His heart was breaking into a million pieces at her desperate pleas and he felt she left him no other choice.

"Okay, Hermione."

She closed her eyes and smiled widely; letting out a small hum, like him saying her name, was the best thing she has ever heard. He didn't really know how else to take her reaction to it, but he liked that he could make her happy.

"What do I do?" he asked when she didn't respond for a few seconds.

She slowly turned her head and looked at him.

"First…" She gulped "you need to lie down."

"Okay?"

Draco looked around for a clear spot. He didn't want to leave her side, so he moved some rock out of the way with his good arm and moved to lay down next to her; ignoring the throbbing bump on the back of his skull.

"Good…Now…Relax."

"How am I supposed to relax at a time like this?" he turned his head to face her.

She let off a faint smile before turning her head back up to look at the broken ceiling.

"Think of the ocean…the calm soothing…waves of the water as they crash onto the shore…listen to your…breathing…when you inhale through your nose…it's like the sound…of the beach."

Draco closed his eyes and began to imagine the ocean she was describing. She was right about the sound of his breathing sounding like the water. A smile formed at the corner of his lips as he thought about how amazing she was. He pictured them running together and playing on the shoreline; just the two of them; no one around to ruin the moment for them.

"Good. Now use your left arm to…lift…your right out to the…side…slowly…pain will be a sign…you are going…to fast." She continued to explain through many deep breathy pauses.

He did as he was told and he felt her hand touch his. She was helping him lift his arm in the air so he quickly reached out with his left hand to take over.

"Now…move your arm…over your head…and turn…your hand, like you are scratching…your neck…then sl…"She let off a cough and Draco almost stopped what he was doing, but she continued like it was nothing. "Slowly…try to reach…your left…shoulder."

Once again, Draco did as he was told and instantly he felt his shoulder pop back into place. The sudden relief of pain, he didn't even know he was feeling, washed over him. He rotated his shoulder to get the feeling back after he sat back up. Moving back to Hermione, he began to properly examine the mess she was in.

 _ **(Song: Hold on- Chord Overstreet)**_

She was losing a lot of blood and her breathing had become irregular. He looked up at her face and the sadness he experienced was something he never wanted to feel.

"Hermione?" he questioned when she didn't open her eyes for a while.

"Hmm?" she turned her face to his voice but didn't open her eyes.

"Stay with me…I need you to hold on, okay? I know help is coming."

"Mmm."

Draco moved to cup her face with his left hand. He no longer cared how she reacted. He had to touch her and he had to keep her away for as long as he could. He moved his thumb to caress her cheek; wiping away tears that stained her pretty little face.

"Please don't leave me." he whispered.

He half hoped she didn't hear him, but the other half wished she did so she could berate him for being a fool. At least then, she would stay awake.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. His eyes never left her as a single tear escaped one of his grey eyes.

"You asked me…before…what my problem was." She started.

"You want to talk about that now?" he gently brushed her hair out of her face before moving his hand back to continue cupping her cheek.

"I'm dying…I get…that right." She smirked up at him.

"You're not dying. You are going to be fine. You are always fine." He replied sadly, knowing she was right.

"Draco…I'm…I'm not ready…to…go." she whimpered.

"You are not dying!" he almost shouted in anger.

"You kissed…me."

"You kissed me fir-" he began confused, but she cut him off.

"I got…scared…I thought…if we went back…to the way…we used to be…I could pretend…" she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as a single tear rolled down the left side of her face, before opening them again and looking him.

"Pretend, what?" he asked softly.

"That I…wasn't" she took in a deep breath "Wasn't…in love with…with you."

Draco was thrown back at her words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hermione Granger loves him; she admitted it but the words left him speechless. She turned her head away from him and he quickly moved her face back to him.

"This whole time, you loved me, and you waited until you were impaled to tell me?...Typical Gryffindor." He smiled.

"I guess…I could…have gone about…getting…your attent…attention better." She looked down at the rebar and chuckled slightly.

"When did you even start liking me?" he asked really wanting to know while aslo trying to distract her away from the bar.

She closed her eyes and at first Draco thought she stopped breathing, but she opened her eyes again and he was instantly relieved.

"When…you threw…your wand…to Harry…during…the war."

She was visibly getting weaker and Draco knew she was losing too much blood. She closed her eyes again and her breathing slowed drastically. He grabbed one of her hands in his right and she felt ice cold to the touch.

"Hmm, you're warm." She smiled.

"Hermione?" he rubbed his thumb against her face. "Hermione…please hold on." He begged.

"Mmm." She muttered, but he was barely able to hear her. "I want…to go…home." Her lips quivered and she started to cry again.

"I will take you home. We can even go to the beach if you want; like the one you described…we can go wherever you want, okay? You just need to stay awake, alright? You need to stay…with me." His voice cracked.

"You'll…you'll run…away…with…me?"

He leaned down so his lips pressed against her ear; his now wet cheek, touching hers.

"I will run, to where ever you are." He whispered before turning his head and placing a long, tender, kiss upon her cheek.

He felt her smile while he held his lips to her soft supple skin.

"Promise?" she asked, almost below a whisper.

"Always."

That time though, he didn't feel her smile.

"FIRE DEPARTMENT! CALL OUT!"

Draco's head shot up to the broken ramped ceiling just to the left of him.

"OVER HERE! WE ARE HERE!" He shouted happily before turning back to a very pale Hermione. "Hermione, help is here. I told you they would come." He smiled down at her but quickly noticed how still she became. "Hermione?"

He moved his hand below her nose; she was no longer breathing.

"Hermione!" he began to panic while shaking her slightly. "Hermione, I need you to wake up!"

"FIRE DEPARTMENT! WE ARE ON THE WAY!"

"Hermione! Hermione wake up!…Please…" he pleaded as tears reformed in his eyes.

The fire rescue reached him and one of them began to try and pull him off of Hermione.

"No! No!" he yelled as he tried to get back to her.

"We have her!" the man said as he tried to move Draco away from his Gryffindor. "HEY!" he shouted and Draco's fallen face turned to the fireman holding him. "We have her, okay?"

Draco looked back to the group of men and women surrounding Hermione as they rushed to get oxygen on her and started probing her with different needles and instruments. He turned back to man and nodded his head.

"Okay then, let get you out of here so we can look you over."

"I'm not leaving her."

"Son, it is not safe for you to say down he-"

"I AM NOT, LEAVING HER!"

The fireman held up his hands in defeat, realizing he was not going to win this battle without the help of the others, but the others, were too busy helping the Golden Girl that Draco, never told he loved.

"Okay, okay. Let's at least go over there, alright?" he motioned his hand to the area off to the right.

Draco nodded his head and the fireman help lead him past the rubble and debris to a safer area. He set him down in front of a car and knelt down in from of him.

"Okay, lets look you over." The fireman began to access Draco's wounds but Draco, didn't care.

He never once turned his eyes from the area Hermione lay at. He couldn't see her or what anyone was doing to her, but he could see the backs of the rescuers as they worked quickly to help Hermione.

Draco saw one of the men grab a drill and a saw. He could only assume it was to help free her from the impaled rebar. Even he knew removing the whole thing meant she could bleed out a lot quicker so he knew they were keeping it in to plug the hole.

He prayed to Merlin, to Salazar, and to his surprise, he even prayed to the muggle God, that Hermione made it through this. He needed the chance to tell her, that he loves her.

The fireman re bandaged his leg wound and brought out a temporary sling for his arm before moving to look at the back of his head. And even through all the poking and prodding, Draco's liquid filled eyes, never left where his princess lay.


	6. Chapter 6- Change

Chapter 6- Change

 **06:00pm**

 _ **(Song: Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol)**_

The firefighters worked quickly as Draco sat watching from afar. They were yelling commands to each other and mentioning medical terms, he couldn't understand.

All of a sudden though, they counted to three and rolled Hermione on to a stretcher. Draco thought that if they were moving her on to a stretcher and not a body bag, then she was at least alive.

He moved to stand up and used the car behind him to help him. The fire rescue workers lifted Hermione up and to the side and Draco could finally see her. Her shirt was cut open for the paramedics to work and they had managed to cut the piece of metal impaling her, down to about five inches. They also had an IV bag and a portable heart rate monitor attached to her, and a man was pumping air into her lungs with a strange shaped bag.

Hermione's heartbeat was slow but to his relief, she was alive. He let out a breath at the sight and lowered his head. However, the tiny blips of her heart turned to one long beep and he lifted his head so quickly, he almost fell backwards.

The men and women lowered Hermione to the ground and brought out a machine that Draco didn't recognize. A firefighter ripped her pretty blue blouse, further away from her chest, leaving her exposed in her nude colored bra, and began CPR as another woman placed two large pads on her; one slightly above where her right nipple was, and the other, on the side of her left ribs.

Draco watched, confused as the woman then took the paddles off the machine.

"Charge to 200!" she called out.

Another man turned a knob and Draco listened as the machine charged up.

"Clear!" the paramedic shouted, and Hermione's voice, echoed in his head.

" _Thank you…for defending me." She tilted her head._

Everyone removed their hands off of Hermione as the woman lowered the paddles and shocked her chest where the pads were placed earlier.

Hermione's body jerked upwards and it scared the ever loving piss out of Draco. The heartbeat monitor beeped for a second before it flat lined again. And all Draco could do, was watch in horror as tears began to form in his eyes again.

" _I know…You did save my life already."_

He inhaled a breath as his eyes reddened and his lips quivered but he couldn't look away.

"Give a shot of epi! Charge to 300!" the woman called out again. "Clear!"

" _I don't actually hate you, Malfoy."_

Once again, Hermione's body jerked off the ground and once again, Draco stood frozen, as all hope left his body.

"Please?" he begged as he began sobbing "Please Hermione…please?"

His body shook as he cried like he had never cried before. The rescuers charged the machine up again as the man took over compression and once again, the ending was the same.

Draco lowered himself to the ground, sobbing in shear agony as he raised the back of his good hand to his lips. Even still, he refused to look away as the paramedics tried again. One last time.

"Another shot of epi! Charge to 350...Clear!"

" _You're beautiful." - "Thank you." she smiled lowering her head._

Hermione's body jerked up again before resting motionless on the stretcher. Her head fell to the side and Draco completely lost it when the rescuers began to lower their heads in sadness and defeat.

" _I want to go home." She whimpered._

"Why are you stopping?" he shouted and tried to move forward to crawl to Hermione but the fireman who helped him earlier, held him back. "WHY ARE YOU STOPPING?" he screamed.

The woman, who was defibrillating his Gryffindor, turned her sad eyes to him. She looked like she was about to call, time of death, when everyone in the room, instantly stopped moving.

" _Do you trust me?" he asked holding on to her._

The heart rate monitor began beeping and this time, it was stronger.

Draco looked at the monitor, frozen; as did all the rescuers. Suddenly, Hermione's chest rose up off the ground as she inhaled a deep and long breath. A breath, she had not taken, for eight, very long, traumatizing, minutes.

The room broke out in smiles and but the workers quickly moved back to check on Hermione, who was now rolling around and moaning in pain on the stretcher. However, Draco couldn't bring himself to smile. He couldn't even bring himself feel relieved, let alone breathe. His whole body was frozen and his gaze stuck on the girl who was now alive.

" _I trust you." she whispered._

Draco finally let it all in. He took in a breath and a smile began to appear at the corner of his lips. She was alive, and nothing in this world could make him anymore happier.

"She is too erratic, someone grab a sedative!" the woman called out.

"She is going to need blood, son." The fireman next to him stated "Do you know her blood type?" he asked moving to help him stand.

Draco shook his head but then a thought occurred to him. He donated blood every six months, as part of his company charity program. He let out a light chuckle. He didn't know Hermione's blood type, but he knew his.

"How much does she need?" he turned his head to ask the man who eyed him skeptically for laughing and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"For starters, about two pints. We are running low on O negative, due to the mass chaos outside and to know her type, well it would be more beneficial."

"I am O neg." Draco replied, looking at the man, letting out another chuckle.

"Are you sure you are O neg., son?" he raised a brow "We can't go mixing the wrong blood types together. That can be catastrophic for her."

"I am absolutely certain. And trust me," he looked back to Hermione "mixing my blood with hers…could never be wrong." He turned back to the fireman "Take my blood." He demanded, holding out his left arm.

The man hesitated for a moment and took in a deep breath.

"Seeing as we are in an emergency and on short supply…this is the only time we are doing this, you hear? I am trusting you on this."

Draco shook his head and lightly laughed again.

"Hermione means more to me, then even she knows…I would never intentionally hurt her." he spoke softly.

The man raised a brow and crossed his arms while he contemplated believing Draco. He finally let out a breath and turned to his fellow crew.

"I need an empty IV bag and a…" he grabbed Draco's arm and looked at his veins "A 16 gauge needle, stat! Oh and does anyone have a granola bar or something on them?"

A young paramedic gathered up the items and rushed sloppily over to the fireman; almost tripping in the process. Draco sat down on the ground and went to roll up his sleeve, out of habit, when he remembered, he was only wearing an under tank.

The paramedic lowered himself to rest in front of Draco and Draco wondered for a moment, if he was a trainee. The young man unwrapped the needle while the fireman connected the tub to the IV bag. Shaking, the young man started to try and find a good vein in the crease of Draco's left arm.

Draco eyed him as he poked his skin; missing every time. He grew fed up and grabbed the man's hand to stop him.

"Are you new?" he asked calmly.

The man nodded his head in embarrassment but to his surprise, Draco was feeling elated and didn't berate him like he should have. Well, like anyone else would have. Instead, he slowly took the needle out of his hand and showed him how to do it.

"Like this." he began. "You want to hold it at this angle, so that you get the needle into the vein cleanly. Look for the largest blue line and work your way down from there if it in inaccessible…You want to try and stay calm as you do it. Breathe in and out until you feel yourself relax. Then, you go for it…You try." He handed the needle back to the man and watched, as he followed the directions he gave him.

He had managed to find a good vein and slid the needle in effortlessly. He smiled up at Draco with joy, before looking back down and turning the knob to let the blood flow through the tube.

Draco couldn't help but smile at the man's proud moment. Hermione was alive and he was about to give her his blood. He knew there were a few jokes that could be made about that, but right now, he was just extremely happy he could tell her he loved her back.

He smiled again and let out a huff through his nose at the thought of finally being able to be with her. He would no longer be lonely; he finally had the girl he was waiting for, for years. He was only upset that it took them almost dying, multiple times, due to a tornado, for them to both admit their feelings. She was a lot better at hiding hers though, than he was his.

"All done." The man claimed as he pulled the needle from Draco's arm a few minutes later.

But all Draco heard, was Hermione's voice again.

" _I did try to take you with me." She looked at him concerned._

" _Thanks." She stated pulling her hand back._

" _No, you need it more than I do right now."_

" _All done." She looked up and smiled._

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she did show him more signs then he thought. It wasn't just in the way she helped him throughout the day. It was the way she smiled at everything she said. To anyone else, they wouldn't have seen it, but he paid attention to her; even when she didn't think he was. He caught each smile but at the time, didn't think anything of it.

But now, now he saw every single one. He read every hint she had ever given him when she spoke. And suddenly, the way she eyed him in the lobby when he first saw her, it all made sense. He was too focused on her hating him, he didn't even look at the way she loved him.

" _Why did you stick up for me?" she asked quickly, only slightly gazing up at him._

" _Do you want me to heal that?" he pointed to her bleeding hand.-"What?...Oh, uh sure, I guess." She slowly faced him and held her hand out to him._

" _Because we both know you don't trust me."-"I trust…I trust that you won't throw me out of the lift, if that is what you mean?"_

" _I told you…I'm not callous." - She expelled a light laugh and slowly turned her head to him. Giving him a weary smile._

 _Her head snapped up and her eyes pressed into him hard with shock.-"I…I-" but he held up a hand to stop her.- Hermione didn't speak as she looked at him with her lips slightly parted and inhaled lightly, almost as if she wanted to say something._

That's when it hit him.

When he apologized for being mean to her, he told her that the way he acted in school, shouldn't affect how she viewed him now. She was going to admit her feelings then but he stopped her. He stopped her, so he could continue with his pathetic apology.

"Idiot!" he muttered aloud to himself.

" _Are you alright?"_ he heard Hermione's voice again after he tripped in the stairwell.

"Sir, are you alright?" the man asked again after a few seconds, bringing Draco back to reality.

Draco's head snapped up and met the blue eyes of the fireman who looked concerned for him.

"I am fine. Just an idiot." He replied lowering his head back down and shaking it; cursing himself.

"Not about the blood I hope?" he looked worried.

"No. It's something else."

"Okay." He let out a sigh of relief "Well, I need you to eat this before we head up." He waved a granola bar in front of him.

He took the bar and stared down at the wrapping. He cursed himself again for being so stupid and caught up in his own feelings, he never even thought about hers.

Opening the wrapper and taking a bite, he lifted his head up and watched as the workers lifted Hermione and began moving her away from the rubble. He dropped the granola and tried to stand quickly but once again, he forgot his leg was hurt. That, and he was woozy from lack of blood.

The trainee rescuer ran over to catch Draco before he fell and wrapped his arm around his neck. Without saying a word, the man helped carry Draco out of the parking garage and up the ramped ceiling.

Once they reached the lobby however, he looked around at the damage. It was no longer raining but a large oak tree lay on its side, after it crashed through the lobby windows. The front desk was impaled with a small blue sedan, and glass was scattered everywhere from a chandelier that once hung in the room's entryway.

The building seemed off though and Draco couldn't pin point what it was. It wasn't until he stepped outside, turned around, and looked up, that he figured it out.

Malfoy Tech. was beyond repair. The whole building was no longer standing up straight; instead, it was leaning to the right. The building next to it was used a crutch; holding his empire up, preventing it from crashing to the ground. He was lucky to be alive. They all were.

He turned his head to focus on the rest of the chaotic scene playing out on the street. Ambulances and police cars where everywhere, including the sidewalks. Tents where propped up, with mobile equipment attached to scared people, and doctors were frantically running around, trying to triage anyone they came in contact with.

The scene reminded him of the Battle of Hogwarts before the second half occurred.

Bodies laid in different zones marked with black tarps and different color tags on people. He saw the rescuers mark Hermione with a red tag, so he had an idea that red meant she needed immediate treatment, but the other colors he was confused on.

He turned his head and looked at the paramedic helping him walk through the crowd.

"What do these colors stand for?" he asked looking back around at the badly injured people.

The man looked around as well before pointing out the colors.

"It depends on the triage system." He began "This one is used for mass casualty situations." Draco's face fell "Red is for immediate, for people who cannot survive without treatment right away but have a chance of survival, so they will be taken to the hospital first. Yellow is observation, meaning they are stable for now. Um let's see, green is for those who will need care after the immediate is treated…like you and white is for those with just minor injuries." He finished pointing to a tarp only half full.

"And that one?" Draco asked with a forlorn look while eyeing the black tarp hidden in a corner of the street. A tarp, which seemed a little to full.

The man let out a deep sigh and looked to where he had pointed.

"That…that is black. It's for the deceased and…for those whose injuries are to extensive and won't survive with the care that is available."

The man lowered his head but Draco refused to look away from the people who perished. Not all of them came from his building but he knew of at least two who had. He knew Hermione would be grateful to know if they got Nate and Leena out of the high-rise.

"Do you know if anyone made it to floor seventeen yet?" he asked as they continued walking.

"Um. I think so. There was a massive fire on the floor below, which the fireman wanted to put out quickly, so the structure didn't snap in half. Why?"

"Did they find anyone up there?"

"As far as I know, I think they found two deceased. A man and a woman…friends of yours?" he turned his head and sadly looked at Draco.

"Employees." He responded letting a deep breath out through his nose.

"Wait…You own Malfoy Technology? You are Draco Malfoy?"

Draco nodded his head and the man's smile grew beyond his face as he set Draco down on a crate in front of a tent.

"Holy hell! I am meeting the Draco Malfoy! My little brother idolizes you! He too, was placed in Slytherin and is a third year."

Draco's head snapped up with shock.

"You went to Hogwarts?"

"Not me. I am just a muggle. But my brother apparently is a muggle-born, I think that is what you call them? Anyway, he has been following your company for years and just loves what you did with muggle cellphones!" he gleamed "He can call me every day from school instead of waiting days for an Owl thanks to you."

"So he knows of the war?" Draco asked leaning back against the bar of a tent.

"My whole family does. It's famous. Wait until I tell my little bro that I met you! He is going to lose his mind." He exclaimed.

Draco let out a light laugh and shook his head. He never thought someone would idolize him, especially after the horrible things he had done in the past.

"I am sorry about your building, by the way." The man lowered his head.

"It's just a building…What is your name?" Draco questioned, looking up at the trainee.

"Jason, sir."

"No need to call me sir, Jason." Jason nodded his head. "What is your little brother's name?"

"Steven."

"How about I make your story to Steven, even better?" he smirked in a friendly manor.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"You know that girl you and your crew were working on?"

"Yes. The girl you seem to care a lot about. Is she your girlfriend?" his eyes perked up.

"Hopefully…maybe one day." he smiled "…but that girl…Is Hermione Granger."

Jason's mouth dropped and Draco could have sworn he almost saw the man about to faint. He let out a laugh as Jason tried to contain his excitement.

"Wait…this isn't some trick right?"

"Why would I trick you?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Because everyone knows you and the Golden Trio hate each other."

"People change…and it turns out…not all of the Golden Trio hate me."

Jason's jaw dropped again.

"You mean…Hermione Granger, the brightest which of her age and probably forever, likes you?...I think I need to sit down."

Draco let out another laugh and watched as the man sat down on the empty crate next to him.

"Blimey." He expelled through a breath. "So wait, why didn't you use your wand to heal her?" Jason questioned, turning his head and rested his elbows on his knees, intrigued.

"She lost her wand in the elevator shaft and mine snapped in half." He explained looking down at his hand.

"That makes sense. You both look like you went through hell in there. How did you wind up in the parking garage?...I am sorry if I am asking too many questions."

Draco looked up and shook his head.

"It's alright…We started on level thirty-six but once we got to level three, the floor gave way."

Jason created an 'o' with his lips and raised his head.

"Shit man…Well I am glad you both made it…and uh, thank you for helping me with the needle. I know you don't have the best reputation and I deserve to be yelled at for rushing but, you handled it well…so thank you." he smiled.

"Don't mention it."

"You are alright mate. I am going to make sure everyone knows it." he stood up and turned to Draco with an outstretched hand. "Let's get you to your girl." His smile rose to the corner of his mouth.

Draco took his hand and stood up. They walked over to an ambulance with a woman and another rescuer inside and Jason helped Draco up the ledge.

"This bus is going to the hospital where they are taking Hermione…It has been a pleasure meeting you…I wish it was under better circumstances though."

"I agree." Jason moved to turn away and close the doors but Draco stopped him. "Thank you, Jason. Tell Steven I said hi."

Jason grinned and nodded his head before closing the ambulance doors and smacking it with his hand to give them the okay to leave.

Draco shifted to get comfortable as the bus started to move and the man next to him started scribbling on a thick metal clipboard. He turned his head and looked at the woman lying on a stretcher in front of him. His heart dropped when he realized who the unconscious woman was.

"Ms. Tate?"


	7. Chapter 7- Breathe

Chapter 7- Breathe

 **06:32pm**

The ambulances sirens blared as it raced down the downtown streets to the hospital. Draco though, couldn't take his eyes off the unconscious Ms. Tate, lying before him.

"What happened?" he asked the man sitting next to him.

The rescue worker lifted his head from the clipboard he was scribbling on and eyed Draco like he had just asked if the grass is blue.

"Um, a tornado hit." He replied holding his pen out to the side of him, like it helped him get his point across.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"I meant to her." he pointed to Ms. Tate.

"Oh." The man let off a light chuckle "we found her under a tree in Malfoy Tech."

Draco wondered why she was even still in his building when he fired her and security was supposed to escort her out.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine. Just a few broken bones and some minor internal bleeding that was taken care of at scene."

"She wasn't supposed to be there." Draco muttered.

But even though he said it with sadness, he couldn't bring himself to really care all that much that she was injured. After all, she would have been fine, behind the desk, where she was supposed to be but instead she had to go and get herself fired and then take forever to leave.

It's not like he didn't have a heart though. He sort of cared she was hurt. But she really had no one else to blame but herself. Besides, she insulted Hermione and disrespected him; she was no longer an employee of his. He hoped she pulled through, but it wasn't something that was going to make him lose any sleep, if she didn't.

"What do you mean she wasn't supposed to be there?" the paramedic questioned.

Draco turned his head and looked at the man with his fingers to his lips as he rested his good elbow on his knee.

"She was fired, moments before the tornado hit."

"You know her?" he asked Draco with a raised brow "Because we have no ID on her and she kept screaming about how she was going to sue the company. She refused to give us a name before she passed out."

Draco's stomach dropped but he refused to show his worry.

"Her name is Abby Tate and I know for a fact, she is going to have a hell of a time trying to sue me."

The rescuer expelled a laugh through his nose as he went back to scribbling on his clipboard.

"Well, you said she was fired, so she will have a hard time suing you. But I would be careful if I were you. Lady seems like a nut job if you ask me."

"Thanks." Draco replied rolling his eyes and looking away from both the man and Ms. Tate.

The ambulance suddenly came to a stop and Draco looked up, realizing he made it to the hospital. The passenger in the front got out and walked to the back. Opening the doors, he helped Draco down from the ledge before moving to help roll Ms. Tate out of the vehicle.

Draco looked around at the emergency entrance and came to an understanding. There was no way he was going to be able to find Hermione in this chaos.

It seemed that even the hospital was overfilled. People were lined up out front and tents were set up in the parking lot to treat those with less sever injuries. Hermione though, would not be outside. She was a red tag and he knew she would need what muggles call, surgery; so that would mean she was inside.

"Hey!" the man who was in the back of the ambulance earlier called out to Draco while running back out of the hospital after dropping Tate off. "Take this." he handed Draco a crutch before stepping up to get back in the bus.

"How-how do I use this?" Draco questioned, confused and embarrassed for having to ask how to use an object he assumed, was rather simple.

The man let out a chuckle and moved to crouch at the edge of the vehicle.

"Put this part under your armpit and put your hand here." He pointed to the top and middle parts. "It's a crutch mate, it will help you walk. Think of it as an extra leg."

He did what he was told and rested his weight on the crutch; he already felt loads better.

"Thanks." He smiled.

The man nodded and moved back to sit down as the rest of the rescuers came out of the hospital and got in the bus. Draco turned back to the entrance and began hobbling through the chaotic crowd, towards the front desk.

"Excuse me?" he asked an orderly, who pushed passed him carrying bandages; completely ignoring him. "Hey can you-" he tried to ask a nurse who also ignored him. "God damn it…Hey! Please, can you help me?" he asked a woman who was trying to calm down an overbearing man.

She turned her head to him and had a face of almost relief but annoyance as well. Her eyes were surrounded by dark circles and she looked down right exhausted.

"I am just looking for someone who was brought in by-" he began.

"Everyone is looking for someone." She cut him off with a bitter tone.

"Okay, well I am sorry for bothering you. I just want to know where she was taken; she was a red tag." He continued.

The woman sighed and moved to open her mouth, but the thin man next to her didn't seem to like being interrupted.

"Hey! I was here first!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry sir, I-"

"What? You think your loved ones are more important than mine?" his voice rose higher.

"No, Merlin's beard no sir. I'm sorry; I am just trying to find-"

"We are all trying to find someone, kid! So why don't you go piss off to someone else!"

"I am not a kid and you do not have to act like an arse to me! I said I was sorry!" Draco claimed, getting very annoyed by the man.

"Did you just call me an arse?" he questioned, taking a step into Draco's personal space and tilting his head like he wanted to fight.

"I said you were acting like one, not that you were one. How about you know the different before getting up in my face and embarrassing yourself." He took a hobbling step back and looked at the woman, ready to apologize for bothering her.

However, the man was not very happy about Draco's last statement. His face turned red and he balled his hands into fists at his side. Draco though, saw the punch coming before the guy even raised his hand.

Leaning back quickly, the man missed his landing on Draco's face and stumbled forward. But Draco wasn't taking any chances of the man coming at him again, so he balanced his weight on the crutch and lifted his left knee into the air; slamming it hard into the man's stomach, making him double over on the floor.

Draco let out a hiss of pain as the impact radiated down to his cut but he blew out a breath and watch the man try to catch his breath as he howled on the floor. The woman, who he figured was a nurse, let out a huff and smirked at the fallen man.

"Serves you right." She scoffed.

She turned to Draco and smiled.

"Red tags will most likely be in surgery. What type of injuries does she have?"

"Oh uh, impalement in her side…from a rebar." He answered thrown back a little from the nurse's sudden change in demeanor.

"Ouch. So she would be General Surgery. Normally she would be trauma but everything today is trauma. Anyway, take the elevator to the fifth floor. There will be a waiting room to your left and the desk to your right."

"Um…I don't mean to be rude but are there stairs I can take?" he asked almost pleadingly.

She lowered her brows in confusion as she looked at him, then his crutch, then his leg.

"I was trapped in an elevator and it almost took us down with it…I'd rather take the stairs." He explained.

She folded her lips inwards in understanding and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Stairs are just at the end of the hall there. Third door on your left."

"Thank you!" he exclaimed before turning on his heel and limping down the hall.

It took Draco about twenty minutes longer than normal to make it up the five flights of stairs but he was happy once he finally made it to the floor he needed to be on. He made it the reception desk, which was not as busy as the downstairs one, and leaned his arm on the counter.

"Hi." He let out a breath and looked at the elderly nurse sitting at the desk "I am looking for Hermione Granger. She was brought in by the ambulance."

"And what is your relation to her?" she asked looking up at him.

Draco stumbled at the question. He knew they would only give updates to those who are related or married to a patient.

"She is my wife." He answered after a few seconds of thinking it over.

"And your name?" the lady asked, lowering her head to write down something on a pad of paper.

"Draco…Draco Malfoy."

"Different last names?" she eyed him skeptically.

"We just got married. She didn't change her name yet. Besides there is no harm if she wanted to keep her last name." he retorted a little colder than he wanted.

The nurse raised her brows in disbelief but her face said, she has heard it all before.

"Sorry, I'm just tired." He quickly added.

She pierced her lips and looked back down at the computer. She began typing as Draco watched impatiently.

"She is in surgery right now. That is all the information I have for you at this time. I will let the doctors know you are here and someone will be out to update you as soon as they get a chance. In the meantime, if you could start filling out her information on this form, that would be super helpful. The waiting room is just across the hall there."

She handed Draco a clipboard and pen before going back to her work; completely ignoring him. Draco looked at the form and took a deep breath. He hobbled across the hall and sat down in an empty sitting area in the corner. Looking at the form he filled in, to the best of his knowledge, Hermione's information.

He was glad he paid enough attention to Hermione at school to be able to fill out her birthday and her full name, but that was about it. He put his address down and himself as emergency contact; hoping she won't hex him for it later. When he got to the part about insurance though, he was completely lost.

"Insurance huh?" a male voice said over him.

Draco raised his head and almost threw the clipboard at Harry Potter's face.

"Potter! Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, startled.

"Cheers to you too, Malfoy."

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Draco asked rudely.

"You're kidding right?" he raised a brow "My best friend is in the hospital." He moved to sit down next to Draco.

"Right." Was all Draco could say as he contemplated how this interaction was going to go.

"Word in the Ministry, is that you saved Hermione's life." Harry claimed looking straight ahead.

"I-I guess. I donated my blood to her." he replied looking back down at the form, praying things won't escalate.

"So…Does that make her Half-blood now?"

Draco slowly raised his head and looked at Harry. He had a small smile playing on his mouth and looked to be trying to stifle a laugh.

"I…I honestly have no idea how to respond to that." he shook his head slightly, baffled.

"Well, it definitely means you can't call her Mud-blood anymore." He chuckled.

"I haven't called her that since like, I don't know, fifth year! I would never-"

"Calm down, Malfoy. I was kidding." Harry held up a hand, cutting him off.

Harry lowered his hand and the two men went back to staring at nothing.

"So, you and Hermione are married now? When did that happen?" Harry asked smiling at no one.

"It didn't…I…I…" he trailed off.

"Just wanted to get updates on her condition?" Harry finished for him.

"Yeah." Draco sighed and looked back at the form; still stuck on how to fill out the insurance part.

"Just put NA across the box." Harry suggested. "I'll pay for the visit before I leave."

"Why can't I pay for it?" Draco asked a little offended.

"You have muggle money?" Harry turned to look at him.

"I run a wizarding company based in a muggle world. Of course I have muggle money."

"Alright, we'll split it." Harry turned his head back and lowered it to look at his hands.

Draco turned back and lifted the pen in his hand that was still in a sling. He marked NA across the box, like Harry told him to do, and moved to hand the form back to the receptionist.

"I got it." Harry chimed, standing up and taking the clipboard from Draco.

He was a little confused and felt strange having a civil conversation with Harry Potter. He hadn't seen the man since, well since the war. Potter and Weasley had skipped going back to Hogwarts to repeat their seventh year and became an Aurors instead. Last he heard, Harry became top rank while Ron quit so he could study Dragons with his brother in Romania, a few years back.

Harry walked back over and took his seat next to Draco, letting out a deep sigh.

"So, what relationship did you say you had with Granger?" Draco asked, trying to be pleasant.

"Well, you took the husband card, so I said brother." He leaned back and started playing with his fingers.

"Oh..." they both sat in silence for a few minutes, before Draco couldn't take the awkwardness anymore. "Are you not even going to question why I, of all people, am here?"

Harry released small laugh before taking in a deep breath and letting it out.

"Not really, no."

"Why not? It's not even a little strange to you that I am waiting for updates on Granger?"

"No." Harry replied still looking down at his fingers. "I just figured, she finally told you she loved you." he shrugged.

Draco's eyes widened and his mouth started to fall open.

"Yo…You knew she had feelings for me?" he questioned, utterly baffled.

"Apparently, everyone but you, knew." He laughed slightly.

"I-What?"

"Hermione has had a thing for you since the war. It's why she and Ron didn't work out. You would have thought, after I defeated the greatest Dark Wizard of all time, she would talk about our journey and how we defeated evil," he shook his fist in the air "but no; she only wanted to talk about how you threw me your wand, and how you lied to help us at the manor, oh and my personal favorite, how we saved you in the Room of Requirements, giving her a chance to ride a broom in front of the 'Slytherin Seeker'…I am only her best friend and have been trying to get her on a broom for, well, ever, but she'll only do it when it comes to saving your life, apparently." He huffed. "It's like something in her flipped when you sacrificed your life to help me win the war. She saw you differently and in doing so, made her obsessed with looking back at everything you ever said or did. It drove Ginny and I nuts, so we told her to just tell you at the meeting she was supposed to have with you today."

"Wait…What? She was going to tell me she loves me today?" Draco questioned, looking away from Harry and into nothing ahead of him.

"Yeah well, nature evidently, had other ideas…I am guessing I just ruined it by telling you." Harry stated, sounding remorseful.

"No…no she told me." Draco lowered his head and Harry eyed him sadly "She told me right before she stopped breathing on me…I…I didn't even think to say it back to her." he turned to look at Harry. "I lost her and I never got to tell her."

"But she's not gone, Malfoy. She is extremely tough; she will push through this and you will tell her when she wakes up."

Draco nodded his head but he still beat himself up inside for not telling Hermione he loves her, when he had the chance.

"Are you…Draco Malfoy and…Harry Potter?" a man asked standing in front of the duo.

"Yes." Harry sat up.

"I am Doctor Baker, one of the surgeons assigned to Hermione Granger's case." He moved to pull up a chair and sat down in front of the men "I came to update you on her condition."

"How is she?" Harry asked before Draco could even think to open his mouth.

"She is in the ICU resting right now. She lost a lot of blood on the scene, but thanks to you," he looked at Draco "She is expected to make a full recovery."

"That is great news!" Harry stated excitingly and Draco's heart perked up.

"Problem is," his heart fell again "We had a few complications removing the rebar stuck in her side; she landed on it pretty good. We lost her twice on the table."

"But you said she would make a full recovery?" Draco chimed in sadly.

"I said we expect her to." Dr. Baker answered.

"So what is the problem?" Harry questioned, glimpsing at Draco before looking back to the doctor.

Dr. Baker sighed heavily.

"On the scene, we were told she flat lined for eight minutes. During the operation, she was gone for four minutes the first time but ten minutes the second."

"Okay?" Harry began "What does that mean?"

"It means, we don't know if she has any brain damage due to lack of oxygen and if she does, we won't know the extent of it until she wakes up…if she even wakes up-"

"If? What do you mean if?" Draco interrupted angrily.

"It happens in all surgeries but more so in ones that have been down for a long period of time." Dr. Baker explained calmly.

"What is the worst case, if she wakes up Doc?" Harry asked quickly.

"Worst case, she might not be able to take care of her-self, or even talk anymore. But we are not expecting that to happen. The worst case we are anticipating for, is memory loss."

"Memory loss?" Draco questioned, rubbing his left palm on his pants to prevent from himself from panicking.

"Yes, son…most cases, it is temporary. Others…well, others, it is permanent. We won't know anything until she wakes up, but I want you both to prepare yourselves…Ms. Granger, might not remember either of you."


	8. Chapter 8- Remember

Chapter 8- Remember

 **Monday August 1** **st** **, 2005 11:34am**

Three full days. That is how long Hermione has been asleep. She hadn't moved or even fluttered an eyelash during that time. It worried Draco every time he came to visit. It was getting hard to look at her; all he wanted was to have her look at him, but she wouldn't open her beautiful brown eyes.

Harry and Ginny came and visited everyday as well. Well, as much as their schedules allowed them to. It cheered Draco up a little but it wasn't enough. He just wanted Hermione to wake up.

"Hey, love…It's me again." Draco began as he sat down on the chair that now became his. "Doctor Baker says you're doing better…I guess that's good, right? It would be better if you would wake up though…He said it takes time for things like this…They did another brain scan on you the other day. They found out that you had hit your head when you fell and had a small brain bleed. They said it was nothing serious and they never saw it the first time the checked, but they fixed it yesterday. Don't worry," He chuckled "Your hair is still intact. They did a small incision or something and drained the bleed." He took Hermione's left hand in his. "Potter and Weaselette will be coming around noon to visit you. I bet you're excited to see them. It still strange, you know; to hold normal conversations with them and not fight. Actually, it's still full out weird to me." He chuckled again. "The doctors say to keep talking to you; keep you updated on what's going on. They say it might help you remember things when you wake up. And I am saying 'when', because I know you will wake up…I don't want to keep talking to you like this though; I want to hear your voice again…I miss you, Hermione."

 **Wednesday August 3** **rd** **, 2005 12:16pm**

"Me again…I bet you are getting tired of hearing that, huh?" Draco gently touched Hermione's cheek with the back of his knuckles. "Good news, I get my stitches removed in four days." He smiled down at her before taking a seat in his chair. "Potter said he wasn't going to heal it because he didn't want to shock the hospital at how quickly my wound healed and then disappeared. He did heal the bruise on my shoulder though…We also researched different spells and potions to try and help you wake up. Unfortunately, this kind of thing, only you can do. Your body has to heal on its own…In other news, I am going to get a new wand tomorrow…" he looked up at the monitor that kept track of her heart beats.

The steady rhythm of the beeping, soothed and annoyed Draco at the same time.

"Please wake up Hermione…I miss you."

 **Saturday August 6** **th** **, 2005 11:10am**

"I won't even say it…You already should know." Draco pulled his chair up and sat next to Hermione.

He reached out his hand and took hers; just like he always did.

"I miss you…I talked with the insurance company about the damage to the building…They are going to have to tear it down. Along with the building it is leaning on. There was too much structural damage. I am thinking about rebuilding the company but that is a lot of work and starting over. The payout from the loss is good but…I don't care about the money." He sighed and sat back, never letting go of her hand. "Ms. Tate made a full recovery. But as soon as she was released a few days ago, she served me with papers. Claiming I fired her under wrongful termination and wants workman's comp to help her with the bills." He huffed. "She won't win though. Security was able to salvage the tapes from that day, as proof. And I won't have to cover her hospital stay due to her no longer being an employee when she, get this, jumped in front of the tree to try and make her case stronger." He laughed slightly "It was all caught on camera. That paramedic was right; she is a nut job. And it just so happens, her little charade is illegal according to muggle law, so she might have to do time in their prison. Ministry is going to make sure her wand gets snapped before that happens though…What else…oh, Ginny made it into the Hall of Quidditch yesterday. Youngest Chaser in the world to do so! She is really gifted at Quidditch. I think she is the real reason Slytherin always lost to Gryffindor at school. Anyway, ceremony is next week, hopefully you can come." He lowered his head "Please come back to us, Hermione…We all miss you."

 **Monday August 8** **th** **, 2005 11:28am**

"This is getting harder to do every day. But I won't stop. I won't; not until you wake up, and even then I am going to still come…"

Draco leaned forward on his chair and took her hand in his. His eyes watering as he looked her over as if willing Hermione to wake up.

"Potter should be here shortly. He took the day off to come see you. Ginny had to go chaperon try-outs for her team but she said when it is done, she will head over to come see you…Your room is covered in flowers by the way; roses and lilies. I bring the roses, Potter brings the lilies. He said you would know what that means."

He continued to scan her face as her chest rose and fell with her steady breathing.

"You are still beautiful, you know that?" he lowered his head to her hand and placed a soft gentle kiss on her knuckles before looking back up at her.

"She always was."

Draco turned his head and saw Harry standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, leaning against the frame, with a sorrowful expression.

"Yeah." Draco muttered before turning his attention back to Hermione. "Potter is here, Hermione." He smiled and held her hand up so his lips could rest comfortably on her skin as he held on to her with both hands.

Harry moved from the doorway and took a seat on Hermione's right.

"She looks like she is still sleeping…a few shakes and we could wake her up." He sadly admitted while lightly caressing his pointer finger against her hand.

Water filled both of the men's eyes but neither of them, let the tears fall.

"I want to tell her…but I don't want to tell her while she is like this." Draco uttered into her hand.

Harry didn't say anything for a while and they both sat there in silence for a few long minutes.

"You should tell her." he began softly "At least then she will know and then…then you know that you said it. If anything, it will help you heal."

"I don't need healing, Potter. I am just fi-"

"No you're not." Harry cut in calmly "None of us are. We are all broken right now and the only person who can fix us…is her. We need to tell her everything we can; while we still can…It's been over a week, Malfoy. If she was going to wake up, she would have done it already."

"What are you saying? That we just give up on her?"

"That is no were near what I am trying to say." He sighed and leaned forward in his chair; removing his glasses he wiped his face with his hand before putting them back on. "I am saying. We need to think about what Dr. Baker said to us the first day. We need to prepare ourselves-"

"For if she doesn't remember us, not that she won't wake up!" Draco claimed in frustration.

"Malfoy," Harry's face fell to sadness as he stood up from his chair "You need to tell her." he frowned for a moment as Draco looked up at him; dread and grief overtaking him.

"I'm…I'm not ready to let her go. Saying it means goodbye and I can't-" his jaw quivered and a single tear escaped his grey eye.

"You're not saying goodbye…You are saying…You're just saying, until next time." Harry let a tear fall from his green eyes and he quickly wiped it away. "I'll give you a moment…If you need me, I'll be right outside the door."

Harry turned on his heels and slowly made his way out of the room. The sound of the door clicking shut made Draco's bottom lip shake more as another tear escaped his watery eyes. He turned his face back to Hermione as he prepared himself.

"Hermione," he whispered as his lips still shook "I…I promised I would take you home, remember? We were supposed to run away together and we…we would go to a beach…We would run in the sand and splash each other with the ocean water…I promised…I told you that where ever you are…Where ever you are, I would run to…but I don't think I can keep that promise anymore." He lowered his head into her hand and took a breath before looking back up "Do you remember when you kissed me? I was so shocked that you showed me any type of affection that I just stood there and stared at you but, then I kissed you back and…and it felt, like Heaven. I don't know much about the muggle God or the Heaven and Hell he or she apparently created, but from what I heard; Heaven is the most wonderful place to go to…You made me feel like I was in Heaven, Hermione; even when we stood right above a living Hell. And then you told me you were in love with me and I…I never got to say it back…I have dreamt of you saying those words to me for years…." He sighed and looked up to the ceiling "My apology to you that day was bullocks." He lowered his head back to her hand "It was all true, don't get me wrong, but…But I left out one important part." He wiped a tear from his eye "I picked on you in school, not because you were muggle-born. I picked on you because I had a crush on you and I…I didn't know how to handle it…I have always liked you; my feelings just grew when I grew…I am in love you, Hermione. I have been for a long time…Merlin, this isn't how I wanted to tell you but…I ca-"

Draco stopped instantly and pulled his face back from her hand. He stared at it for a few seconds, thinking he was going crazy. But then it happened again. Hermione lightly squeezed his hand.

Draco stood up so fast it knocked his chair over and he released her hand; letting it fall back on the bed at her side.

"Potter!" he called out "POTTER!" He yelled.

Harry came rushing back into the room looking frantic.

"What? What is it?" he asked panicking.

"She squeezed my hand."

"What?" Harry began, quickly walking over to Hermione and taking her hand in his "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am sure! I wouldn't lie about that!"

Harry leaned over Hermione and looked deeply at her face.

"Hermione? Hermione if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

Both men stood frozen as they waited for Hermione to do what was asked. But she didn't; she didn't move a muscle as she steadily kept breathing.

"Malfoy, are you sure it wasn't a reflex? Like the doctor said she could have?" Harry asked releasing her hand and laying it on the bed gently.

"I am sure."

"Wait!" Harry held up a hand while looking down at Hermione's.

"What? What is it?" Draco asked in bewilderment taking a step forward.

"Malfoy, come over here." He waved his hand for Draco to come over after staring for a few seconds. "Watch her hand…Now say something."

"Like what?" he asked confused.

"Look! Right there!" Harry exclaimed "She is reacting to your voice! Say something again!"

Draco's eyes widened and he moved to stand closer to Hermione.

"Hermione?" he asked, looking down at her hand.

Her fingers twitched and Draco looked up at Harry with happiness written all over his face.

"I'll get the doctor!" Harry announced and ran out of the room.

Draco took a seat on the edge of the bed and took Hermione's hand in his.

"Hermione? Can you hear me?" he asked with desperation in his voice.

Hermione's hand squeezed his and this time, it was a lot stronger. He looked up from her hand and saw her eye lids begin to flutter open. Draco let out a laugh as he expelled a gasp of relief. He watched as she opened her eyes slowly and started looking around the room before her eyes, landed on him.

Draco smiled so wide and lifted her hand to kiss it. He didn't want to attack her face with kisses just yet. He knew, even through his happiness, she might not full remember him.

"M…Mal…" She grunted "Malfoy?" she whispered in a hoarse voice as she raised a brow. "Why are…ehm, Why are you holding…my hand?" she cleared her throat again.

Draco quickly let go of her hand but the joy radiating his body, never left him.

"Sorry…We've um, we've all been worried sick about you." he replied clearing his throat and changing his voice back to his firm boss-like one, so to not freak her out.

"Water." she whispered lowly.

He moved to pour some water into a cup from the pitcher by her bedside and placed a straw in it before handing it to her. She took the cup and started greedily drinking it.

"What uh; what do you remember?" he asked rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

Before she had a chance to answer, Harry and Dr. Baker came rushing into the room.

"Ah, Ms. Granger. You are awake!" Baker began excitingly "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess. What happened?" she asked looking away from Draco and to the doctor.

"You had a mighty fall…" he began, shining a light in her eyes "What do you remember?"

"Um…I remember arguing with a woman at the front desk of…Malfoy Tech."

"So you don't remember the tornadoes?" the doctor asked, sitting on the edge of her bed on her left.

"Tornadoes? In England?"

"Well, you don't seem to have forgotten too much and your speech is impeccable. No stuttering or jumbling of words and letters. That is great news." Dr. Baker looked around the room smiling "Your memory lapse just might be temporary. I want to keep you here the next few days and monitor you; see how you progress, okay?"

She nodded her head and looked back to Draco.

"How long have I've been asleep?" she asked him directly.

Draco looked at Harry, confused that she was speaking to him, but Harry just shrugged his shoulders. Draco looked back to Hermione and licked his lips; biting his lower lip he looked to the doctor, who just nodded his head.

"Eleven and a half days." He replied carefully, looking back to her.

She took in a breath, while absorbing the information, and turned her attention to Harry.

"Did…Did I tell him?" she asked with her eyes misting up.

Harry's face fell slightly and his shoulders dropped.

"Not in the way you wanted to Mione, but yes, you told him."

"Oh." She lowered her head and started picking at the blanket on her legs.

"Well," Dr. Baker announced, patting Hermione's leg lightly "I will take this as my queue to give you guys some time alone…It would be best on her health, if you let her remember on her own. I'll be back later to check on her." He smiled and stood up.

Everyone in the room nodded and faintly smiled as he walked out of the room. Harry pulled up the chair that Draco sat in every day and took Hermione's hand.

"We missed you, Mione." His eyes glazing over and he stood up quickly to hug her tightly before releasing and sitting back down.

"I know…I heard you talking to me…not everything or all the time, but I heard the 'I miss you's' a lot. It was like your voice was pulling me back."

"Not just me, Hermione." Harry stated calmly.

Draco moved to lean against the ledge of the window and crossed his arms while he watched the two best friends talk.

"Ginny too." She stated in a soft voice.

"Ginny too." He repeated looking her over like Draco did, before she woke up.

She smiled softly but kept her focus solely on Harry.

"Was it only my head that I hit?" she asked curiously.

"No, uh…no." Harry answered, not wanting to give away too much information.

"Oh."

Hermione gently moved her hand out of Harry's grasp and began feeling herself over. She stopped when she got to her left side. Moving the blanket out of the way, she slowly lifted up her hospital gown until the stitched wound, covered in gauze, appeared.

She looked it over for a few seconds before lowering her gown and looked back to Harry.

"Rebar." She stated firmly.

"Rebar." He repeated.

She nodded her head and looked back to the blanket.

"You stood up for me." She claimed after minutes of no one talking, and raised her head to look at Draco.

Draco looked to Harry for help but he just half-smiled at him; indicating for him answer on his own.

"I, uh…ehm um, yes." He replied slightly stuttering, while he moved his body across the ledge slightly.

"Thank you." she smiled.

He softened his shoulders and softly smiled back.

"You're welcome."

Her smiled moved to the corner of her lips before she lowered her head back to the pillow behind her.

Once again the room was silent for what felt like forever and Draco almost had enough of it. He strongly thought about just going for a walk; letting the two best friends talk without him in the room but then Hermione spoke again.

"How is your leg?" she asked sweetly.

Draco leaned off the window sill, uncrossing his arms and looked at Harry, who also looked just as shocked as he did, before looking back to her.

"You remember my leg?" he questioned, still stunned.

"Of course…I bandaged it up for you."

"So you remember what happened up to…" Harry asked, letting his sentence trail off.

"Not everything; just bits and pieces." She finished for him taking another sip of her water that Harry refilled and handed to her, only moments ago.

"That is great Hermione!" Harry exclaimed happily.

She smiled at him, looking proud that she remembered something.

"So how is your leg?" she asked again, handing the water to Harry.

"It's better." Draco answered, while he moved to take a seat in the only other vacant chair.

"That's good." She smiled happily.

"Granger?" Draco looked at her skeptically.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember the elevator?"

She nodded her head.

"You saved me…but I have a feeling, I said that before."

"You did." He chuckled. "You definitely did."

"I'm tired." She admitted looking somewhat sad.

"You should get some rest." Harry began, standing up.

He moved the blanket up to her chest and leaned over her, leaving a gentle a kiss upon her forehead.

"We will come back up and see you later, okay? He finished.

Hermione nodded her head and the men moved to leave the room but not before Harry closed the blinds, shutting out the sunlight.

"Malfoy?" she asked, now curled in a ball, cuddling the blanket.

Both Harry and Draco stopped in their tracks, halfway through the room, and turned to face her.

"Would you mind…staying for a little longer…at least until I fall asleep?" she asked liked a child would ask their parents.

Draco glanced at Harry in surprise.

"I'll be back later tonight." Harry stated, nodding his head with a smile pressing on the corner of his mouth.

Harry turned off the overhead lights before he left the room and Draco made his way back over to the chair he was so infamously familiar with. Hermione snuggled the blanket closer to her body as the glow from the desk lamps lightly lit her face up.

Draco let out a sigh as he crossed his arms, leaned back into the chair, and watched her close her eyes. He laid his head back and looked up at the ceiling.

"I know what you did?" she spoke in a low whisper.

He lowered his head back to see her and his grey eyes landed on brown.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" he questioned confused.

"You never left my side." She whispered gazing up at him.

Draco just stared at her confused. He thought, she remembered a bit of the parking garage; but what he didn't know, was that she was talking about something completely different.

"I missed you too." she whispered so low that he almost didn't hear her, before closing her eyes, and snuggling closer to the blanket.


	9. Chapter 9- Home

**(Song: You Say- Lauren Daigle)- Optional and placed wherever you want near the beginning. I just wanted it mainly for one part that you will know when you read :)**

Chapter 9- Home

 **Monday August 8** **th** **, 2005 03:43pm**

Draco watched as Hermione slept for the next three hours. Not once did he take his eyes off of her; not even for a second. He heard her say she missed him too and he thought long and hard about if she was talking about the garage or, if heard him say he missed her so many times, when she was in her coma. It was barley a whisper and he didn't think even she knew he heard; but he did.

He wondered how things were going to go after that. He didn't want to be awkward around her and he desperately wanted to tell her about everything, including the fight he was having with himself. He wouldn't of course tell her what happened, but he couldn't take her not knowing how he felt.

Hermione stirred slightly as she cuddled closer to the blanket; however, she never awoke. Draco moved to the edge of his seat to be closer to her and studied her face. Raising a hand, he grazed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. She tilted her head slightly, but still stayed asleep. He cupped her face and caressed her lips with a feather light touch from his thumb.

"I love you, Hermione." He whispered ever so softly. "But I know I am not enough for you."

He pulled his hand back and sat back in his chair. He didn't hear or see Harry and Ginny, enter the room, nor did he know they back out and stood watching him from around the corner with slight pity on their features; eavesdropping.

Draco lowered his head and let out a sigh.

"I don't know how to do this?" he continued to whisper, careful not to wake her "It was so much easier telling you everything, knowing you probably wouldn't hear me anyway." He leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees, looking to the floor. "I don't know how to talk to you without being weird about it, so I guess I will just let it all out while you are sleeping." He let out a breath and rubbed his hand across his lips before resting them in his fingers and stared into a void before him.

He stayed like that for a few seconds before removing his hand from his mouth and looked back down the ground.

"I thought I would know what to say to you when you woke up...but, I don't. I thought I finally had you, Hermione. But then you were gone, and just like that, I lost you. I was honest when I said I would run to where ever you are." He looked up at her, and thought about how beautiful she looked sleeping. "I wanted to take your place, you know? I wished every day that it was me who was impaled and not you. You didn't deserve that. You helped me out more that day, than anyone ever has in my whole life." He lowered his head again "But now you don't remember and I can't help you…I just wanted to take your place." He let out another breath "I can't explain why it is easier to talk to you like this. I think perhaps, I have grown used to it. That, or I am too scared to tell you how I really feel, to you face. I wanted to tell you were beautiful as soon as I saw you in the lobby, did you know that? I didn't though, I was afraid of how you would take it. I need you Hermione; I need you like the ocean needs the waves; like a butterfly needs its wings…I…I wish I would have told you sooner…Did you know that I took everything you ever said to me to heart? Every time you fought against me, I actually felt pain inside. I hated upsetting you but I had no choice. I tried to help you behind the scenes. I actually ripped out that page about the Basilisk at the book shop in second year, so you could find the Chamber of Secrets. I even snuck out and sat by your bed side every night when you got petrified… Every hateful thing I had ever said to you was for show and…because I was scared, Hermione…But I know I am not enough for you. I could never measure up to half of what you have done. I don't even know who I am. I have been trying to fix myself for a long while but, but I still don't know. All I know is that I have no friends; I am all alone in the word and it's a fact, that you are too good for me. I am weak; but I still love you and I still want you. How can I love someone when I can't even love myself? How can you love someone who couldn't even protect you?" he sighed and lowered his forehead to his hands. "

"You're not weak." Her angel like voice spoke.

Draco lifted his head quickly and looked at the now awake brunette.

"Ho-how much of that did you hear?" he asked in embarrassment and shock.

She tilted her head up and looked at him.

"How much did you actually want me to hear?" she questioned with a calm demeanor.

"I…I uh."

"You're not weak." She repeated, cutting him off "And you are not alone. You are stronger than you think you are."

"How can you say that?" he asked gazing up at her.

"Because I know you. You don't ever run from a fight and you are loyal to the end."

"You don't know me." He replied, looking away from her in shame.

"I've known you my whole life, Malfoy; just like you have known me. I have faith in you. I trust you and you protected me as much as you could. That's how much I know you…You're not weak. If you were weak, you wouldn't have sat by my side and watched me die as I told you I was in love with you."

He looked up at her with a shocked but saddened expression.

"You remember?" he asked leaning off his legs.

"I remember telling you how I felt and I remember you being so strong for me."

"I wasn't strong, I-"

"I remember kissing you." she interrupted.

He tilted his head slightly at the change of subject.

"I remember it but, I don't remember it. It's really fuzzy." she continued.

"What?"

"I want you to kiss me again." She appeared embarrassed as she looked down at her hands covered by the fabric of the blanket.

"You-you want me to kiss you?" he asked confused. "I can't really tell if you are joking or not."

She nodded her head and moved her eyes back to him.

"It might help me remember more and it might help me understand…something."

"Understand what?" he asked, tilting his head again.

"Why you stayed."

"I-"

"I heard everything since you touched my cheek, Malfoy."

"Oh." He stated while internally cursing himself.

"So…can you kiss me?" she asked again.

Draco rubbed his hands on his pants in nervousness. He thought it would be a long while before he would be able to kiss her again; if she would even allow him to do it again. He lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sure…I guess."

Hermione turned her body slightly to allow him better access to her lips and Draco hesitantly stood up. He was unsure if he should just peck her on the lips or if he should just really kiss her. He opted to just let it play out and see what she allowed him to do.

Draco took a step closer to her and nervously looked down at her. She gazed up at him, patiently waiting and he instantly melted. All of his fears vanished in a blink of an eye and he realized then; he had no reason to be nervous. She was like coming back from a long trip; she was home, his home.

He bent down and rested a hand on the pillow, to side of her head, and the other closer to her right shoulder. He gazed down at her, like she was a breath of fresh air after he had been drowning in water for years.

Hermione now looked nervous as he looked at her, so he moved his left hand away from her shoulder and gently cupped her face. He caressed his thumb across her cheek a few times before lowering his head and softly touching his lips, to hers.

They held there touch for a few wonderful seconds before Hermione lifted a hand and cupped his cheek, pulling him closer to her. The kiss, was the most gentlest kiss he had ever given, let alone received. He never wanted to pull away as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss slightly. He never put his tongue in her mouth though, he let his lips do all the talking and he knew, they were saying a lot.

Her lips were so soft against his and as much as he wanted to continue, he didn't want to press his luck. So he pulled back slowly and looked at her. Her eyes were still closed and she definitely looked to want more as she folded her lips in, slightly biting her lower lip and tilted her head back down.

She opened her eyes; looking straight in to his grey ones. Draco told himself screw it, as he smiled down at her and lean in again to kiss her. She smiled up at him as he slowly lowered his head and pressed into her; his thoughts resting on only one thing. That she, beyond a shadow of a doubt, held his heart.

"Awe." Ginny sighed happily, holding a hand to her chest.

She quickly realized her mistake and clasped a hand over her mouth. Draco pulled back and closed his eyes; annoyed that the moment was now ruined and stood up, moving away from Hermione before turning around to give Ginny a deathly glare.

"I'm sorry." Ginny claimed apologetically, lowering her hand. "That was just so…so beautiful."

Harry nudged her with his elbow and they moved from their hiding spot behind the frame of the doorway, walking into the room.

"Hey!" she started, lightly pushing Harry back "Give me some credit. I contained my whimpers as he gave his heartfelt speech."

"Barely." Harry retorted with an eye roll.

Draco rolled his eyes as well and turned his chair so he could face everyone, before sitting down and crossing his arms.

"So…Did that jog your memory at all, Mione?" Harry asked cautiously, moving to sit on the window ledge.

"What?" she asked looking up; removing her hand from her lips.

"I asked if Malfoy's kiss, jogged your memory?"

"Oh, uh…Yeah. I remember the fire." She looked up at Harry and Ginny but Draco could tell she was trying to avoid looking at him.

"That's good news…Malfoy kiss her again!" Ginny chimed with a grin, pointing to him to Hermione quickly.

Draco scuffed and rolled his eyes again. He decided focusing on the floor, was better than being embarrassed by the red headed Potter anymore.

"Anyway…" Harry cut in "Dr. Baker said he would be back in about an hour or two to take you down for an MRI to have a look at your brain. Do you want to play a game or something while we wait? I saw some cards and a chess board in the waiting room I could grab."

"Okay," Hermione moved to fully sit up "That sounds fun."

"Alright, I will be right back." He stood up "Uh Ginny? Why don't you come with me?"

"You can't carry a few board games on your own? I want to talk with Mione." she raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"Ginny." Harry tilted his head to point at Draco and Hermione, while giving Ginny a knowing look.

"Ugh, fine. But while we are at it I want a soda from that vendi thing we passed on the way up here."

"Whatever you want dear…Malfoy? Hermione? Want anything?" Harry asked now looking at the two of them.

"A bottle of water would be amazing. Oh, and a bag of chips!" Hermione perked up.

Draco shook his head and glanced up at Hermione. He knew Harry was trying to give them some space but the nervousness he felt earlier, began creeping back up his spin.

Harry and Ginny walked out of the room and shut the door. Once he heard the click, he slowly sat up straight in his chair and rested his arms on his knees. He let out a breath and looked around the room, trying to shut out the awkwardness he was experiencing.

"Did they get Leena and Nate out?" Hermione broke the silence and turned to face him.

He turned his head from facing the end of the room and looked at her.

"Yeah." He replied leaning back in his seat.

"That's good." She smiled lightly.

"Yup." he leaned his right elbow on the arm of the chair and rested his temple again his knuckles of hand.

"I may not remember everything right now but," he lifted his eyes to look at her while she spoke. "I know it was you who mainly visited me here. I didn't want to say it in front of Harry because I didn't know how close you guys have gotten. I didn't want it to start a fight."

"I came every day, Granger. Potter knows that."

She lowered her head and started playing with her hands as she rested he body on her left shoulder.

"Why do you love me, Malfoy?"

"Can you not call me that?" he asked in a semi-frustrated tone.

Hermione looked at him worryingly.

"Sorry…I didn't think you minded since I've always called you that."

"I do mind…I always minded, at least when it came from you." he lowered his head back down.

"Then I won't call you that anymore…but you can't call me Granger then either."

"Deal." He stated lifting his head slightly.

"Deal." She smiled. "So then, Draco, why do you love me?"

"I don't really know if I can explain it to you."

"Why not?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

"Can you explain why you love me?"

She opened her mouth and paused for a moment.

"Fair enough…" they were both silent for a few minutes "I like kissing you, you know?"

Draco looked back up at her and slowly removed his hand from his head.

"You do?" he questioned in surprise.

Hermione nodded her head and a small smile played on her pretty pink lips.

"I was scared when you first kiss me in that room." She began "I was afraid I made a mistake and that we only did it in the heat of the moment…no pun intended." She giggled slightly "But I heard you when you spoke to me…I didn't know if it was all in one day or over a period of time, but I heard you…don't tell Harry or Ginny but, you were the reason I came back."

Draco's lips parted slightly, in shock, as he gazed upon Hermione.

"I wouldn't mind kissing you again."

He let off a chuckle and stood up; not even hesitating. She looked up at him in confusion and dropped her shoulders like she was upset. Draco shook his head and smiled at her before taking the few steps closer to her bed. He towered over her and rested his hands on the blanket to her sides.

She leaned back slightly and looked rather confused.

"You want to kiss the Slytherin Prince again? What is this…Three or four times now?"

"I uh…um" she stuttered.

Draco leaned down so he was closer to her right ear.

"Where's that Gryffindor courage, Hermione?" he whispered tenderly.

He could practically feel her close her eyes and he could hear the small vibration of the moan in her throat as he said her name. Turning his head to face her, she slowly turned hers as well. He looked down at her supple pink lips for a brief moment, before looking up and into amber eyes. Leaning in, he placed his lips softly on hers. However, he didn't let the kiss linger this time. This time, he pulled back slowly, after only a few seconds; leaving her craving more as he stood up and took a step back.

"Why did you stop?" she asked saddened.

"You want more?" he raised a brow and gave her a friendly smirk.

"I want all of you."

Draco was thrown back at her confession and Hermione too, seemed to realize what she said as her eyes went wide and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked shocked, moving his ear to semi-face her.

Hermione lowered her hand and bit her bottom lip; looking away from him, she refused to answer.

"You can't just ignore that, Hermione." He stated calmly.

"Yes I can." She looked to the window.

Draco let out a chuckle and moved to sit on the end of her bed. She still refused to look at him in embarrassment, so he lifted a hand and touched her chin; turning her face, ever so slowly to him.

"You want to have sex with me?" he questioned, tilting his head slightly as he gazed at her.

Hermione lifted her amber eyes and parted her lips.

"Yes." She whispered after hesitating for a couple of seconds.

She looked almost afraid of how he would answer but he formed a half smile that reached the corner of his mouth and removed his hand from her chin.

"Okay."

She almost looked relieved that he agreed. He had wanted her for a long time and the fact that she admitted she wanted him too, made him ecstatic. He wasn't going to miss out on this one chance; his one chance to show her, just how much he loved her.

"But not until you are fully healed and out of the hospital, okay?" He finished, crossing his arms.

Hermione nodded her head and smiled. He loved when she smiled; she always had a way of brightening up a room when she was happy. And he was glad that this time, he was the one to make her smile.

* * *

 **Sorry if this chapter isn't as good. I'm starting to get writers block lol**


	10. Chapter 10- Release

Chapter 10- Release

Wednesday August 10th, 2005 10:15am

"Bullshit!" Ginny yelled as she stared Draco down.

Harry and Hermione looked back and forth between the duo as they sat across each other on the hospital bed with worry, while Ginny tried to call Draco out. Draco however, condescendingly smirked at the red head and lowered his hands to the bed; never taking his eyes off Ginny.

Ginny leaned forward and looked at the cards he flipped over and shrunk her shoulders while letting out a frustrated groan.

"Ugh! Again?" she asked as she collected the large pile of discarded playing cards in the center of the group. "How the hell do you keep doing that?"

"You are challenging a Slytherin to a game of Bullshit. Do you really think I can't mask a lie?" he stated with a raised brow as he let out a chuckle.

"I hate that you always win!" she stated in aggravation as she sorted the stack of cards in her hand. "It's not fair." She frowned.

The group snickered at Ginny's frustration as they continued the game.

"Four three's." Harry claimed, setting four cards face down in the center.

"Bullshit." Ginny furrowed her brows and looked at her husband "I have all the fours."

"You have all the cards." Harry laughed as he pointed to the large stack in her hands.

"I quit!" Ginny threw her cards in the center and crossed her arms in a huff, as she leaned back into her chair.

Everyone let out laughs, well, everyone except for Ginny, as Hermione collected the cards and fixed them.

"Do you want to play again?" She asked with an innocent smile.

"No!" Ginny announced "Not if Malfoy keeps winning."

"Well someone is a sore loser." Draco chuckled, leaning back in his chair.

"I wouldn't be if you didn't win every game we have played. You even won at monopoly! Monopoly! A muggle game you have never even played before!"

"It's a business game." He stated as a matter of fact "It's wasn't hard to figure out."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"And what about Candy Land? Or the Game of Life? Hmm?" she pressed on.

"I got lucky in those. Just the luck of the roll." He responded shrugging his shoulders.

"Battleship?" she continued.

"Okay," Harry interrupted with a chuckle "We can move on to Trivial Pursuit if you want, Gin?" he suggested. "Malfoy is sure to lose at that game."

"So will I!" she uncrossed her arms "That game is all about muggle facts. Only you and Mione would actually win that game."

Harry looked slightly defeated as he let out a sigh and turned to the pile of games they borrowed from the kid's play room.

"Well, we have-"

"Good morning!" Dr. Baker announced, cutting Harry off, while knocking on the open door. "How is my favorite patient doing today?" he smiled entering the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Excellent, Dr. Baker!" Hermione chirped.

"That is wonderful to hear…I have good news for you Ms. Granger."

Hermione smiled widely as she looked at the doctor.

"I get to go home today?" she asked cheerfully.

Dr. Baker frowned and looked down at her chart.

"Well your scans came back clean and your wound is healing nicely. Your memory is almost back to normal, but…"

Hermione's face fell and Draco instantly felt bad for her. He knew she was done with the hospital and just wanted to go home. He also wanted to be the one to take her home. The doctors had been monitoring her for the past two days and she had improved greatly. He didn't understand why she couldn't leave.

"I am just kidding." Baker grinned "You get to go home today!"

"Really?" she pipped up with wide eyes and a large smile.

"Really." Baker stated softly, lowering the clip board. "You are all cleared to be released; you just need to sign a few documents at the front desk and then you are free to go."

Ginny let out a loud squeal and stood up to hug Hermione. Draco reached over and took Hermione's hand in his and squeezed lightly with a small smile on his face.

"Ow Gin, why are you squealing so loudly? You are going to make everyone go deaf." Ron Weasley asked, stepping into the room while holding a hand to his ear.

"Ron?" Harry stated standing up "You made it just in time. Hermione is being released today!"

"Yeah, it was hard to get away." Ron replied shrugging "Dragons are not easy to han-" he stopped as soon as Draco came into view, from behind the doctor, and his eyes lowered to his hand holding on to Hermione's.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Ferret?" he spat with hate.

Draco didn't know how to answer without it starting a fight and the last thing he wanted to do was fight. He was so tired of it and he was tired of past grudges always being brought up. He just wanted to be left alone.

"He is here because of Hermione, Ronald." Ginny expressed looking up at him before releasing her hold on her friend. "They were trapped together and he helped save her life, so before you start shit that doesn't need to be started, I suggest you stop now and change your tone real quick."

"So what if he saved her? That doesn't make up for everything else he has ever done to us. He doesn't belong here!"

"Is that why you came here, Ron?" Hermione asked releasing her hand from Draco. "To start something? I want him here."

"No, no I came to see you." he turned his dark eyes away from Draco and moved them lovingly to Hermione. "I am sorry I couldn't be here sooner. Work held me up. I came as soon as I could." He stated walking past the doctor and moving to stand next to her; as far away from Draco as possible.

Ron leaned down and hugged her. Pulling back, he pressed a long tender kiss on Hermione's cheek and Draco desperately wanted to push him away. Draco crossed his arms and gave Ron a death glare; never taking his eyes off the man as he pulled away with a smug look centered on his face.

He changed his mind. He most definitely wanted to fight Ron now. He knew the weasel was purposely trying to get under his skin and it was working.

"Anyway," Dr. Baker chimed in after standing there for a few moments watching the two men who hated each other stare one another down. "The receptionist is expecting you at the front, so I will let you pack up." He smiled wearily. "You will be missed Ms. Granger. You brought so much light to a lot of the patients here. I hope you will be back to visit…preferably not injured though." He chuckled.

"Thank you Dr. Baker; for everything. I will try my best to visit." She smiled and moved the blanket off her lap.

Dr. Baker nodded his head and turned on his heels to leave. Once he exited, Draco turned to get Hermione her clothes. Ginny and Harry had done some shopping the day she woke up, so she had a new outfit to wear when she was released, since her old outfit was ripped up at the scene when she almost died.

He handed her the shopping bag that contained a pair of light blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. There was also a pair of flats and some undergarments for her to put on and a bottle of perfume to help her rid the hospital smell from her body.

Hermione took the bag and eased herself off the bed. She walked to the bathroom to change and Draco started collecting her books that were brought to keep her occupied; stacking them in a neat pile and placing them in a separate bag.

"I want to take her home." Ron announced, staring Draco down.

"Malfoy is already doing that. We can visit her tomorrow once she is settled back in and-"

"Are you kidding me? No, I will take her home. I haven't gotten to see her the whole time she was here and I want to spend some time with her."

"And whose fault is that?" Draco retorted in distaste, under his breath, while standing up and setting the bag on the bed.

"Excuse me?" Ron questioned angrily "I had work and couldn't get away. Listen you piece of shit, you are only here because Hermione has a thing for you. You are a fling and she will learn that quicker than you think. Don't get used to being around here, Malfoy. You are temporary; the quicker you learn that the better." He spat in hate.

Draco snapped his head up and glared the red head down. He wanted to punch him in the face so badly but he knew, in the end, he would be blamed for starting the fight and Hermione would not easily forgive him for punching one of her best friends.

"Ron!" Harry cut in "Can we not fight right now? Please? Let's just get Mione home, okay?"

"Fine." Ron replied crossing his arms "But I will see her tomorrow whether this filth likes it or not." He said with venom in his voice.

"Ron, stop with the name calling. You don't even know Malfoy. He is not that same and he has grown up since Hogwarts." Ginny added.

"I don't care if he adopted a country of muggles and had gave away all of his money to support them! He is still the coward prat he has always been and nothing you or anyone else say, will change my mind about him. He won't get within two feet of Hermione after tomorrow."

"You can't control her, Weasley! She can do what she wants and if she wants to see me then she will!" Draco spat back.

"We'll see." Ron stated a little too calmly while furrowing his brows.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco asked now even more angry.

"It means how it sounds, you git!"

Draco's hands curled into fists at his side and he was struggling with himself to not jump over the bed and land a hard knuckle sandwich into the freckled arsehole's face.

"Okay seriously stop!" Ginny yelled. "This is ridiculous! It has been seven years since school and you, Ron, are acting like we are back in class! Grow up and move on!"

"Why the fuck, are you defending this egotistical, narcissistic, prejudice, low life?" Ron turned to his sister with an out stretched hand pointing to Draco. "He is a coward and doesn't deserve Mione in the slightest! He won't keep her! If it's the last thing I do in life, I will make sure he never sees her again!" he turned his hateful glare back to Draco.

"Okay, Weasel. Good luck with that." Draco replied, rolling his eyes and moving to pack up the rest of Hermione's things.

Hermione emerged from the bathroom fully changed with a wide smile on her face. But her smile fell when she caught the angry look on Ron face and Draco instantly was glad he didn't punch the man. Hermione looked so disappointed in Ron at that moment, he was happy that it wasn't aimed at him this time.

Draco decided to play Ron's game and walked over to Hermione with a large smile on his face and her stuff in his hand.

"You ready to go?" he asked leaning down and kissing the cheek the weasel didn't touch with his foul lips.

She brightened up and grinned from ear to ear as she gazed up at him.

"Yes!" She stated happily.

Draco held out an arm for her to take and started walking her to the door. He could feel the death glares Ron was giving him from behind, but he just smirked as he walked Hermione out of the room and down the hall.

They stopped by the front desk and Hermione signed the release papers she was told would be waiting for her. Once she was done she turned to her friends and hugged each one of them goodbye.

"We will stop by tomorrow to see you, okay? Harry claimed with a smile as he pulled back from her.

"And I will make sure to take off from practice to come too." Ginny added, leaning in for a hug.

"Thanks, guys. But how about I come see you instead?" Hermione stated with a small smile before turning to Ron who looked at her with adoration.

He stepped forward and pulled Hermione into a deep hug; slightly shocking her in the process. However, he stared at Draco with a mischievous look as he held on to Hermione longer than anyone else. He rubbed his hand on her back and hugged her tighter before turning his head and planted a light kiss on the side of her neck.

Draco almost lunged forward but Harry had apparently seen the look Draco had given Ron and took a step to lightly tap Ron; breaking the moment to move him away.

"Come on Ron." He pulled on his arm "We should go see your mum. She is going to be ecstatic when she sees that you're back from Romania."

Ron released his hold on Hermione and stepped back; but not before giving Draco a wink followed by a dirty look.

"Bye Mione. We will see you tomorrow!" Harry called out as the group walked away from them and down the hall.

"Am I missing something?" Hermione asked turning back to face Draco once her friends were far enough away. "Are you and Ronald fighting over me?"

"What?" Draco asked shaking away the hatred that filled his features "No…Besides, even if we were, he would be no match for me." He smirked as he wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders and began walking down the corridor towards the stairs.

"I don't want there to be tension between you two. I love you both and I want you guys to be okay with each other."

"I don't really see that happening, Hermione. Weasley hates me, probably more than he ever did before."

Hermione sighed as Draco opened the door to the stairwell and stepped through. She froze though when they got to the top of the stairs.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking down at her.

"Nothing." she stated with a small shake of her head.

She held out her hand and touched the railing lightly, but she still didn't take a step down.

"Can you stop pretending that everything is okay and saying 'nothing' when there is obviously something wrong?"

She lifted her head to him with a saddened expression. The door to the stairwell opened and a nurse stopped in his tracks. He looked at the couple for a second before nodding his head and brushed past them to start walking down the stairs.

"Are you scared to go down?" Draco asked, bringing his attention back to his Gryffindor.

She nodded her head and looked back to the first step. Another nurse opened the door and walked past them as they stood at the top of the stairs.

"It's okay to be scared Hermione." He continued "I was when I first came here. I still won't take the lift…I am right here though. I will be here the whole time."

She let out a light laugh and turned her head to look at him.

"No offense, Draco, but you where there with me when we fell through multiple floors at Malfoy Tech. and we were separated after we landed…that doesn't really make me feel any better."

"True. But this time I am not injured."

"Still not helpful." She let out a breath.

Draco didn't really know what else to say to her to help her anxiety about the stairs, so he came up with another idea.

He closed the small gap between them and she instantly turned her head to eye him skeptically.

"Do you trust me?" he asked looking down at her.

"I…Yes." She answered with hesitation.

He leaned down and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style. She let out a noise in shock and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Now we can't be separated."

He smiled down at her before turning to face the top of the stairs and began his decent down. He carried her down all five flights of stairs, effortlessly, and gently set her on her feet once they reached the bottom.

"Thank you…You didn't have to do that, you know?" She stated lowering her head in embarrassment.

"I know I didn't." He put his hands in his pockets "But I wanted to."

She raised her head and parted her lips. Draco wanted to kiss her but he knew if he did now, he wouldn't be able to stop. So he cleared his throat and opened the door leading out into the lobby. Hermione looked at him almost as if she was upset he didn't kiss her, before turning to walk out of the stairwell.

Draco watched her walk away with her head hanging a little low and he felt bad. He wanted to make it up to her and he wanted to let her know he still wanted her, so he jogged the few steps to catch up to her and took her hand in his. She lifted her head as she walked, and gave him a smile; squeezing his hand in hers.

They walked out of the hospital and found a small alleyway, close to the ER entrance, to disapparate in. He turned in his tracks and began walking backwards as he looked at Hermione.

"Where do you live?" he asked.

"Why?"

"So I can take you home?" he tilted his head and stopped walking once they were halfway into the alley.

"Oh, uh…" she lowered her head again and began playing with the bottom of her shirt.

"Do you not want me to know where you live?" he questioned placing his hands in his pockets. "What is wrong?" he asked when she didn't answer him.

"Noth-"

"Hermione." He cut her off "We talked about this."

She let out a sigh and moved to lean against a closed dumpster. She lifted her hands and began picking at her fingers.

"What is wrong, Hermione?"

She lowered her hands and looked up at him.

"I don't have a home." She admitted.

"What do you mean?" he took a step closer to her.

She let out a breath and moved away from the dumpster.

"SPEW Inc. doesn't make a lot of money since it is basically a non-profit organization and I have used all my earning, from the war, to put into my company. Plus with the lawsuit I had to hire lawyers to defend me…I couldn't afford my flat anymore, so I moved into my office."

"You have been living at work?" he raised a brow.

"Yes…I can't afford to own a home. I don't even know how I am going to pay for my hospital stay." She sighed in defeat and moved to lean against the brick wall of the building.

"Potter and I already covered your bill. You don't have to worry about that."

"You what?" she stated in shock "How could you do that? Now I have to pay you both back!"

"You are joking right?" he asked perplexed "You're not joking." He claimed when her face didn't change from its serious manor. "Hermione, you don't have to pay us back. We wanted to cover it. It was the least we could do after you basically saved everyone's arses during Voldemort's reign. Plus you were injured on my property; I would have felt like shit if I didn't take care of you."

"I don't want to be taken care of, Malfoy!" she claimed in anger.

Draco was blown away at her sudden change of mood. He didn't think covering her hospital stay would cause a fight but apparently he was wrong.

"Where is this coming from? Why are you so mad about us helping you?" he took a step closer to her but she moved away from him.

"Hermione?" he questioned when she began walking away from him. "Where are you going?"

"Home." She answered as she continued to walk down the alley.

Draco jogged to catch up to her and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Let go of me!" she hissed.

He released her arm and looked at her stunned.

"Did I do something wrong?" he questioned with a fallen face.

"You and Harry, you think that just because you both have money that you can just go around paying for things without a care in the world! I am not a charity case you both can just pass off to boost your egos!"

"That is why you think we did it? Seriously? Potter is your best friend; you of all people should know he would never think of you in that way. And for the record, I don't either."

"Right. So you just happened to mention that you covered my bill after I told you I am broke and homeless!"

"Because it wasn't important to bring it up, period. You would have figured it out when you didn't get the fucking bill. And regardless of whether or not you told me about your living situation, the stay was still paid for!"

He turned away from her for just a moment and ran his fingers through his hair before turning back to her.

"I don't want your fucking money!" she yelled out in frustration. "I don't want anything from you!"

"I guess you don't want my blood then either." He claimed firmly.

"What? Why the hell would I want your blood?" she asked thrown off a bit but her words sounded like she was disgusted at the idea.

"Oh, I don't know; maybe to save your fucking life!" he crossed his arms and pushed past her; hitting her shoulder with his as he stormed away in anger.

"What the hell are you talking about, Malfoy?" she turned and watched him walk away.

Draco stopped in in tracks and took in a deep breath. He didn't want to fight with her, especially since her memory wasn't fully back to normal but his anger was getting the best of him. He needed to cool off before he said something he was going to regret. She was yelling at him for no reason and he was completely drained from having to try and defend himself to everyone, all the time.

"Go home, Granger." He lowered his head.

"No. Tell me what you are talking about!"

He turned around to face her and put his hands in his pockets. He dropped his shoulders and looked at the girl whose mood changed out of nowhere, with suddenness resting on his features.

"You should already know."

"Know what?" she yelled.

Draco was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe that in a matter of minutes, Hermione's mood towards him altered. He didn't do anything wrong and there is no reason for her to forget that he helped save her life by donating his blood to her. Harry had told her the day after she had woken up and she seemed absolutely grateful to him. He wondered though, if she was just trying to find a reason to be rid of him; that the idea of being with him verses actually being with him, was too much for her to handle and she changed her mind.

"I knew I wasn't good enough for you." he expressed holding back a tear.

He couldn't take it anymore and he was beginning to doubt himself again. So he did the only think he could think to do; he disapparated away, leaving a stunned and confused Hermione standing in the alleyway, alone. At least, he thought she was alone.


	11. Chapter 11- Wrong

Chapter 11- Wrong

 **Wednesday August 10** **th** **, 2005 12:22pm**

Draco apparated into his flat, located on the north side of Birmingham, with anger completely overwhelming him. He was pissed at himself for leaving Hermione alone but he was more pissed that she started a fight with him for no reason; especially since he knew he did nothing wrong.

He paced back and forth in front of his massive brick fireplace, cursing himself for how he handled the situation. Picking a vase up off the coffee table, he hurled it at the wall and watched as is shattered into a million pieces. Although, the action made him feel slightly better, it wasn't enough to calm him.

He turned around and at the same time, lifted both of his hands and ran them aggressively over the mantle of the fireplace. Breaking everything that sat upon it and sweeping it to the floor. His anger was getting the better of him, so he sat down on his large sectional couch and put his face into his hands.

Letting out a breath, he ran his hands down his face and thought strongly about going back to collect Hermione and bring her to his flat; but he wouldn't. He was still pissed and he needed to calm down before talking to her again. Only problem was, calming down was going to be hard; he had no one to talk to about it. No one except the two Gryffindor's who had semi befriended him. But he knew they would be at the Burrow where he was not accepted, so he had no choice but to wallow in his misery, alone.

Draco stood up and walking into his kitchen. Opening a cabinet that contain all of his liquor, he pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey and set it on the counter of the large white marble island. He then turned around and opened a second cabinet; pulling out a whiskey glass, he set it down and started opening the bottle. He filled the glass to rim and lifted it to his lips; downing the whole thing in just a few gulps.

He poured himself another glass before picking up the fire whiskey and walking back over to the couch. He sat down and started drinking his second glass but instantly felt bored. He had spent the last week and a half at the hospital, talking to people and playing games. Now that he was home, he felt even more alone. And it wasn't like he could go into work and drown himself in paperwork; his building was no longer standing.

Coming up with an idea to take his mind off of things, Draco set his glass down on the glass coffee table and stood up. He walked down the long hall to his home office and rummaged through a few drawers for some paper and a quill. Once he found what he was looking for, he walked back into the living room and set the items down.

Taking another sip of his fire whiskey he began drawing sketches of what he wanted his new building to look like; leaving small notes on how to improve it and what to add in case another storm, swept across the country.

The next thing Draco knew, he was well over half a bottle deep and his sketches started to look like a kid was drawing them. Three hours had passed by quicker than he thought and he was most definitely drunk. Although, he had to admit, he was feeling a lot better than before.

Draco swayed a little as he tried to stand up and to his surprise, he fell over; crashing in between the couch and coffee table, making a very loud noise he was sure would annoy his neighbors below him. He laughed out loud at himself as he tried to stand back up and between his hiccups and chuckles, he heard a knock at his door.

He tried to stand up again but fell over once more, so he turned himself over and started crawling on his stomach. He heard another knock and he knew he it had to be a neighbor he pissed off.

"I'm cominning-cominnning-coming!" he yelled out as he crawled across the floor.

The knocking grew incisive and it was now starting to irritate him; ruining his good mood. He had crawled about half way to the door and finally managed to stand up with the help of a decorative table against one of the walls. He swayed slightly but he was able to hold himself up. He drunkenly walked to the door and placed his right hand on the frame to steady himself. Letting out a breath, he opened the door and looked straight at the person, who was about to knock again.

"Potter." Draco stated with little to no emotion.

"Malfoy?...Are you drunk?" Harry asked, looking him up and down.

"No…Just slightly, ine-inerbrited- inebriated."

"I'll say…A little early in the day, don't you think?

"Do you want," Draco began, a little annoyed as he tried to hold back a burp "something?"

"Can I come in?" Harry asked raising his eyes to meet his face.

"Why?...How do you even-even know, where I live?" Draco asked wondering.

"You wrote your address on Hermione's hospital forms…So can I come in? I wanted to talk to you about something."

Draco stared at Harry for a few moments; contemplating on letting him in or not and most likely, making the poor Gryffindor uncomfortable. He decided he knew Harry wouldn't leave until he let him in, so he took a breath, before fully opening the door and allowing him entrance.

"Thanks." Harry stated as he walked past Draco and into the flat.

Harry let out a whistle as he looked around the place before his eyes landed on the mess in the living room that Draco created, only a few hours earlier.

"What happened here?" he turned and faced Draco, who still had not moved away from the door.

"I got pissed." Draco replied, closing the door while trying to find his balance so he could turn around.

"Right. So do you have a hangover potion or something I can give you? I don't want to talk to you while you are like this."

Draco closed his eyes slowly but quickly opened them again because the action started to make him feel sick and dizzy. He was kind of over the drunkenness of himself now and it wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep it off any time soon.

"In the bath-bathroom." He began pointing down the hall "Cabinet on the-on the left."

"Okay, your bathroom or your guest bathroom?"

"Mi…mine." Draco answered, once again trying to hold back a burp.

"And…which door it that? You have like, eight doors down there."

"Ten…actually…You know, there are two of you." Draco stumbled backwards, holding two fingers up.

"Good Godric, Malfoy. How much did you drink?" Harry asked stepping forward to try and help him stand.

Draco shrugged and took another wobbly step back while smacking Harry's hands off of him.

"Alright, you go sit down and I'll get the potion…Which door is your Master?"

"Fou-fourth one…on the right."

Harry nodded his head and began walking down the long hallway. Draco started swaying and walking in a zig-zag pattern to the couch. He plopped himself down and laid back, placing a pillow over his face. He was ready for bed now and just wanted to sleep off the bottle of whiskey he finished by himself.

After a few minutes, Harry came back and ripped the pillow off of Draco's face.

"Hey! I was using that!" Draco yelled in frustration.

"You will get it back later. Drink this first." Harry retorted with and outstretched hand.

Draco looked at the bottle in his hand and let out a sigh before taking it from him and sitting up. He popped the cork off the top and down the whole bottle. The effects immediately took over his body and he could feel the wooziness of his drunken state, wash away. He no longer saw double and the room was no longer spinning around him.

He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair and down his neck as he looked up at Harry.

"Okay, so why are you here?" he asked groggily.

"I want to know what happened with you and Hermione. She was upset when she got to the Burrow." He began, taking a seat on the couch.

"And that's my fault? She started a fight with me for no reason, so I left. I needed to cool down."

"I am not saying it is your fault. I am just trying to figure out what happened."

Draco let out a sigh and leaned back.

"Yeah well, ask her then." He raised a hand and plopped it back to the couch.

"She won't talk to me. She started berating me out of nowhere for helping pay her hospital bill. She knows I would have done that for her regardless. I just figured she was mad at you and taking it out on me."

"She is pissed at me for the same reason."

"Is that's all? I mean, she apparated to the Burrow with Ron, not long after we arrived, yelling about how much she hates you for abandoning her. What exactly happened between you two after we left?"

"She was with the Weasel?" Draco lifted his head with seriousness.

"Yeah…Ron said he wanted to make sure her whole bill was paid because a lot of hospitals sometimes have added fees that don't appear until after the patient checks out. Fees from the extra tests they performed; so he went back in to the hospital to check. We just headed off without him. He said he heard Hermione crying in an alleyway when he went to leave and brought her to the Burrow."

"Yeah well, she was not happy about us paying for her and she shouted at me that she wanted nothing from me…she forgot I donated blood to her." Draco leaned forward and looked at Harry as if he just discovered something. "She forgot I donated blood. How could she forget that?"

"She shouldn't. It's Hermione; she doesn't forget anything…Look, I don't know why her mood all of a sudden flipped, but I want to sort it out. She wouldn't even let me heal her wound like we planned. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't let me touch her."

"She started acting weird right after we left the hospital. But it doesn't make any sense. She was fine the whole time until after we left the building." Draco added.

"Do you think it could be a hospital error? Like they missed something in one of her scans? Should we take her St. Mungo's?"

"She won't let you touch her. I am sure she wouldn't let you take her to the hospital. She hates us right now. Besides, I don't think it's a hospital error."

"So, what do you think is wrong?" Harry asked with curiosity.

"I don't know. Maybe she is on her period or something." Draco shrugged and crossed his arms while leaning back into the couch.

"Doubtful. Her moods don't change that drastically when it's that time for her. I think whatever you said, made her angry enough to push both of us away. She is even mad at Ginny for no reason." Harry leaned back and rested himself against the cushions of the couch, crossing his arms as well.

"Is she mad at Weasley?" Draco asked taking a glance at Harry.

Harry sat back up and looked at Draco like he was on to something.

"No…In fact if she should be mad at anyone, it should be Ron. He waited until she was almost released to come visit her and then made the whole visit awkward."

"So why is she mad at us and not him?" Draco raised a brow.

"I don't know...but now that I think about it, it is really strange." Harry stated resting his fingers on his lips.

"Well, before you give yourself a nose bleed from thinking too hard, you should probably remember that Weasley is not good with spells or potions, so I highly doubt he did anything to her."

"I didn't say he did. Ron is my best friend and Hermione's; I know he would never do something to her. I am just saying it's weird and the timing is strange too."

"Granger is just pissed off. I am sure she will be fine tomorrow."

"I hope so…Well I should get going. Ginny is probably having another melt down over this whole thing. I told her I would come talk to you, to see what happened, and inform her ASAP. She is taking Hermione being mad at her a whole lot harder than normal. She has even thrown up a few times because of the stress." Harry stated standing up.

"You sure she isn't pregnant?" Draco asked, looking up at the raven haired man with his arms still crossed.

"Hermione couldn't be pregnant. She-"

"Not Granger, Potter." Draco cut in with all seriousness.

"Ginny?" he questioned perplexed before letting off a chuckle "No, no way…It's not poss-"

"Are you sure? I mean throwing up and being overly emotional because of a small fight? Come on, you can't be that daft?"

Harry looked confused for a moment; almost as if he was fighting with himself as he stood there thinking long and hard. Suddenly his mouth dropped open and Draco let out a chuckle.

"Congrats, Potter. You have a little Gryffin-dork on the way."

"I have to get home!" Harry finally managed to say and he rushed to the door.

Draco stood up and walked to the door, ready to lock it once Harry left.

"Oh, and Potter?" Draco called out from the door frame.

Harry turned around with shock still radiating off his face.

"Don't ever come here unannounced again. Next time, floo call me or something."

Harry nodded his head and started down the hallway.

"You can disapparate in here!" Draco cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted down the hall.

Harry stopped suddenly and shook his head, before disapparating on the spot; leaving Draco, once again, alone.

Draco lowered his head and let out a sigh as he closed the door to his flat. He turned around and leaned up against the door. He eyed the mess he made earlier and let out a breath, before kicking himself away from the entryway and moved to grab his wand off the coffee table. He charmed the mess away and fixed the broken items before setting himself down on his couch.

He thought back to what happened in the alley way and tried to come up with every possible solution as to why Hermione got so angry. He couldn't think of a single thing, so he got up and walked to his master bedroom to take a shower. He undressed himself and laid his clothes on the bed before wrapping a towel around his lower half and turned on the hot water.

His shower was almost the size of his king size bed, with two rainfall shower heads he made sure were installed before he moved in five years ago. He loved how they felt on his body and calmed and soothed every aching muscle. He had used it every day when he stopped by his place to freshen up before seeing Hermione in the hospital. He needed it after the ordeal they both went through.

Once the water was warm enough Draco removed his towel and stepped in. He let the water wash away all the bad that happened that day but he knew it was only temporary. Once he was done all the feelings of being alone would come rushing back. He half wished he could stay in the shower forever.

The steam from the hot water filled the overly large master bathroom as Draco finished up his shower. Stepping out he let out a sigh and wrapped the towel back around him. He walked to the double vanity and rested his hands on the edge of the counter before looking up at the fogged over mirror. Lifting a hand, he wiped the steam away and gazed at himself.

Draco looked himself over and realized he needs to shave, but he was too lazy at the moment to do it fully, so instead, he neatened his face up. Washing away the loose stray hairs that remained on his face, he lifted his head and eyed the mirror. He thought about how much of a disappointment he had been his whole life and how much of a screw up he was now.

That's when it hit him. As he stared into his own eyes, a flash of the alleyway entered his mind. He wondered why he didn't see it before. He had asked Hermione if she was joking and when she didn't answer as she stared at him, he passed it off as her being serious and moved on. But what he catch then, was the blank expression that fell on her face and her eyes go white. It was only for a second though. Not enough time for anyone to really notice unless they looked extra hard, but Draco always paid attention to her and he cursed himself for not seeing it before.

Quickly running to his bedroom he got dressed as fast as he could; dawning jeans and black t-shirt. Skipping the socks or even drying his hair, he rushed to his fireplace in the living room and floo called Harry Potter.

Draco waited for Harry to answer and it felt like forever until he saw someone's face appear in the logs.

"Malfoy?" Ginny questioned confused "What are- are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I need Potter, now!" Draco claimed in a panic.

"Don't we all?" she giggled.

"Ginny, please, I need to speak with Potter, right now." he begged.

Ginny's eyes widened as she realized he was serious.

"Okay, okay. Hold on, I'll get him."

She disappeared from the pit and moments later Harry appeared.

"Malfoy! You were right! Ginny is pregnant!" he announced happily.

"That's great, Potter. But I think I figured out what is wrong with Hermione."

Harry's face fell and he looked around to make sure no one was near him.

"Can I come over and you can tell me? I don't want Ginny to hear and break down again." He asked with worry.

"Yeah…yeah I'll lower my wards." Draco answered, while letting out a breath of relief.

"Okay, thanks. I'll be there soon. I just have to tell Gin I am stepping out for a minute."

"Hurry, Potter."

Harry nodded his head and ended the call. Draco stood up quickly and paced back and forth again. After about five minutes, he stopped for a second; realizing he forgot to lower his wards and removed the apparition one temporarily to let Harry through. As soon as he lowered it, Harry snapped into his living room.

"Took you long enough." Harry stated with annoyance. "I almost splinched myself coming here the first three times I tired."

"Sorry. I forgot." Draco shrugged.

"So what did you find out?" Harry asked, moving to sit on the couch.

Draco shook his head and sat down opposite of Harry. Letting out a breath, he looked up at the boy who lived.

"I think Hermione has been Imperiused." He stated calmly.

"What? By who? How do you know?" he questioned with a perplexed look.

"Well, I mean I've seen the curse be used, countless times, when Voldemort made the Manor his base. I know what it looks like and I didn't catch it until I looked back at our conversation in the alleyway. Her eyes went white and her face went blank but I passed it off due to what was being said at the time and the fact that it happened in a split second. I think who ever tried to use it wasn't skilled enough and or didn't have enough will power to use it."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees.

"I mean, I have seen my fair share of Death Eaters trying to use that curse when they don't actually want to…myself included."

"Go on." Harry replied.

"Okay, so everyone knows that the Imperius curse controls another person completely."

"Yeah but the curse also calms people. It doesn't make them angry like Hermione was."

"It does if it was not casted right." Draco added as he stood up and touched his fingers to his chin. "I think whoever tried to cast it on Hermione, didn't actually want to do it. They messed something up and I think…I think they were angry beforehand. Angry enough to want to use the spell, meaning that the anger we saw come out of Hermione…was not her own."

"That sounds ridiculous." Harry exclaimed as he watch Draco begin to pace. "That curse doesn't transfer emotions."

Draco stopped in his tracks and thought for a moment before turning to Harry.

"It can if it was not casted properly and the caster was emotional. Whoever did it, didn't want to actually do it. They could have been fighting the curse themselves or…" Draco trailed off to continue thinking.

"Or what?" Harry asked, standing up.

"Or they did it out of love instead of hate." Draco continued.

"Like righteous love?" Harry asked crossing his arms "Dumbledore told me once, that the reason I couldn't successfully cast the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix, was because I was doing it out of righteous hate and I couldn't muster the will to actually cause her harm…Is that what you are trying to say, Malfoy? That someone who loves Hermione…cursed her?"

"That is exactly what I am trying to say. And I truly think the caster was not skilled enough either."

"So like a student at Hogwarts?"

"No. Unless she has admirers at that school, it would have to be someone who already graduated. Someone still in her life."

"But I can't see anyone that we know who loves her, use one of the Unforgivables on Hermione. I also can't understand why they would either. Are we sure that she is even really under the spell?"

"Come on, Potter!" Draco let out a groan as he threw his head back, before looking at the man standing before him. "Why else would anyone of your friends or so called family, want to curse Hermione?"

"I don't know! She hasn't done anything wrong to anyone!" Harry exclaimed throwing out an arm in frustration.

"Me, Potter! Because of me! Hermione has had feeling for me for a while. You said it yourself that everyone except for me, knew. She was also trapped in my building when two tornadoes struck and almost died because I was suing her! If I wasn't then she wouldn't have been at Malfoy Tech. to have a meeting to talk the lawsuit over! I am an ex Death Eater who basically destroyed your childhood and got the headmaster killed. I did a lot of evil to your side in the war, Potter. Everyone hates me! And then all of a sudden your Golden girl has the hots for me, after I toss you my wand? No one is probably happy about that, let alone happy that I love her back!"

"You are right, Malfoy, but I still can't see anyone being angry enough to curse her."

"Not even Weasley?" Draco crossed his arms and looked Harry dead in the eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Harry turned around and placed a hand on his forehead. "You honestly think, that Ron would curse his own best friend?"

"You heard the threat in the hospital room! He clearly doesn't want me in her life and he was adamant that is going to rid me from her!"

"That is just Ron being Ron!" Harry yelled out as he turned around in anger "He would never hurt Hermione!"

"That is exactly why I think it is him! I gave you the information on how that curse works, Potter! It makes sense that he would be the one to do it!"

"We don't even know that she is under the Imperius curse, Malfoy! You are just jumping to conclusions with no proof because you hate Ron!"

Draco threw his hands in the air in frustration before clasping his fingers on his head.

"Get out!" he yelled.

"What?...Malfoy, you can't be serious?" Harry asked confused.

"Oh, I am perfectly serious." Draco lowered his hands and moved himself to get a glass of water from the kitchen. "You won't listen to me and you obviously are not going to help me help Hermione, because you think, I still hold old childhood grudges; so I don't need you. I'll figure this out myself." He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and walked over to his very large and very deep sink.

"We can monitor her, Malfoy. We don't really have any other option. If what you are saying is true, then we need to have proof. We can't just go accusing people, like my best friend and brother-in-law, because you think you saw Hermione under the curse. We need concrete evidence before I can file a report on it." Harry tried to explain.

Draco looked at Harry over his glass as he held it up to his lips, before lowering it slightly; deciding whether or not the 'chosen one' was actually right about him jumping to conclusions.

"I am right about this…I may not be right about who it is, but I know she was under that curse in the alley way." He claimed with a calm demeanor.

"I am not saying you are wrong, mate. I am saying we need proof. And until we have it, we can't go around pointing fingers, alright?"

"Fine…but if I am right about who it is…" Draco paused for a moment and set his glass down with as much seriousness as he could muster. "I will kill him."

"Trust me, Malfoy…I know."


	12. Chapter 12- Strong

**Authors note** **: I want to stop and clear the air for just a minute. I hope you guys don't mind. I have had a few reviews from guests over the last two days and two of them I will not allow to be seen, since they are rude. But I want to clarify to everyone, that this is a fanfiction. Not everything is going to be accurate and somethings will even be changed in order to fit my story. The one I understand completely and I would have let the review be seen if it was not for the condescending tone they used in their last line. However, I would like to say that I do know that the UK does not have hospital bills. But for my story I added it for the fact that one, I was having writers block and it seemed like a good way to cause some drama, because anyone who has ever received a hospital bill, knows how much drama they can cause. And two, because I needed a legit reason for Hermione to get mad at her friends. No one else has complained about it so I don't see a reason to go back and change multiple chapters because of it. Also for the people who are saying the story now seems like two different ones, I hear you and I understand. The story itself was actually supposed to end at chapter 8/9 but, I have had a lot of requests from readers on multiple fandom sites, to continue the story and add some smut, so I have and I will. Plus, I love to please you guys! (Not in that way, pervs lol). But I can't add more, without changing the story somewhat. Although, I do promise, I have a reason for the story going in the direction it is atm. That is the only reason I am still going on Earth Shattering and even my finished 1912 story. However, my 1912 story was mainly longer, due to tying up loose ends. I have had only two complaints about the stories seeming to change but I wanted to let those people know and future readers, why I have continued. The second review stating it was going in a different direction, I will let that review be posted and the reason I am doing so, is because they were nice about it and I appreciate what they had to say. But in the future, if you can't give criticism without being strongly negative, like you are really mad about a fan fiction, then please don't say anything at all or don't read the story. Unless it is that much of a fail that needs to be corrected and in that case, PM me before I post multiple chapters that includes that fail, to help me out. Stay positive, stay happy, and help your fellow authors and readers out! Thank you for your patience! Now on to Chapter 12! PS. I had writers block on this chapter too and just winged it, so I apologize lol. I am basically now just making everything up as I go.**

Chapter 12- Strong

 **Saturday August 13** **th** **, 2005 01:43pm**

Two days. Two full days that Draco had not spoken to Hermione. It was like she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. It wasn't like they were really together anyway, but he had thought, since the day they were trapped, that they were more than friends.

He apparently thought wrong. She had been hanging out with Ron and completely ignoring himself, Harry, and even Ginny. She was always angry when she saw any of them, but she was only angry when she was around Ron. Ginny had even tried telling her the good news, about her pregnancy, but Hermione wanted nothing to do with it. It wasn't until she showed up to 12 Grimmauld yesterday, before Ron arrived, that she seemed to be her old self. Yet she was forgetting things.

Draco knew then, that the curse she was under was always performed poorly, causing her mind to be addled. He needed to act quickly if he was going to save her, but neither Harry, nor himself, have been able to catch Ronald Weasley using the curse in the act. They had tried keeping a close eye on both Ron and Hermione, whenever they were around them, but nothing ever caught their attention; and Ron had always convinced Hermione to leave as soon as Draco even tried to talk to her. It was suspicious and highly questionable, at best.

"Maybe there is a third person we aren't considering here." Harry stated from Draco's couch; interrupting his thoughts.

"Like who?" Draco asked from behind the island in the kitchen, as he poured himself and Harry a glass of fire whiskey. "The four of us, have been the only ones around Hermione the last few days."

"Right, and as much as I hate to say it…I think you are right about Ron. All of the evidence points to him; and Hermione forgetting things, matches the Imperius curse being used badly. But I can't see him being evil enough to use an unforgivable on his best friend since first year."

"I can." Draco replied as he walked around the couch and set a glass in front of Harry, before taking his own seat. "You are the one who told me that the reason he and Hermione didn't work out, was because she was in love with me…I think he is still harboring strong feelings for her. Hence, why she is always so angry at us and hanging all over that prat…I fucking hate it!"

"I don't really blame you, but I can't question Ron without making him suspicious that we are suspicious of him. And Hermione can't recall what she has said or done after the spell is dropped." Harry added looking down at the sheet of paper on the coffee table with their web of clues splatter across it.

"But she _can_ help us!" Draco sat up from his seat on the couch with wide eyes and set his glass down. "She is the brightest witch of our age; if we can get her alone without the weasel, then she will be normal and can help us figure this thing out. Plus, we can get her away from him until we sort out who is doing this to her."

"Yeah but how do we get her alone? She won't see any of us without Ron."

"Well, we either kidnap her or, we get Ginny to have a womanhood break down, which we both know Weasley would be too uncomfortable to handle."

"That could work…but then we would have to tell Ginny everything." Harry replied with a frown.

"Even better! The more distressed she is from finding everything out, the more believable it will be."

"I guess, but then I have to deal with the after math of hiding Hermione's condition from her." Harry sat back in a huff.

"You'll be fine. You made it this far, didn't you?"

"True…Still not something I want to deal with." Harry let out a sigh "Can't we just kidnap her?"

"It would be hard but-"

"I was kidding, Malfoy." Harry cut in.

"Still an option." Draco shrugged.

"We aren't kidnapping her." he stated firmly.

"But it is a good idea."

"No it's not."

"Whatever." Draco claimed, rolling his eyes.

"Okay well…" Harry stood up and let out a breath "I guess I should go inform Ginny."

"Good luck." Draco leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Thanks." Harry stated as he lowered his head and disapparate.

A few hours later, Harry and Ginny apparated into Draco's flat as he was making a snack for himself. Ginny looked absolutely pissed off as she crossed the room quickly and placed herself in front of Draco. He looked over at Harry while setting the knife he was holding down, not really knowing what to do; and apparently, that was a really bad idea.

Ginny started smacking him, hard, over and over again. He held up his arms in defense as she began berating him.

"How-could-you-not-tell-me-what-was-wrong-with-Hermione!" She yelled as she hit him between words.

She stopped hitting him for a moment and stared him down. Draco looked back over at Harry, with shock radiating across his face.

"Happened to me too." He shrugged and sat down.

"What the fuck, Weaslette!" Draco yelled back at her. "This isn't just on me!"

She began hitting him again and once again, he held up his arms to shield himself.

"How-dare-you- not-tell-me!"

"STOP HITTING ME, WOMAN!" he screamed.

Ginny stopped instantly and crossed her arms.

"I should hex both of your balls off this instant!" She looked back and forth between the two men "How could you both not say anything to me?" she stated, uncrossing her arms "Have you both lost your fucking minds? Hermione is my best friend and I deserve to know what has happened to her." She began tearing up before full out crying.

Covering her face, she walked over to the couch and sat down next to Harry. Harry began rubbing his palm across her back and looked up at a still, very shocked Draco rubbing his shoulder.

"Pregnancy hormones. Course, I think her hitting both of us would have happened regardless." Harry explained.

"I said get her upset, Potter; to make the story believable. Not have her pissed enough to hit me!"

"Sorry." He claimed shrinking into his shoulders slightly. "I didn't know she would react this badly."

"Yeah well, whatever, it'll work." Draco claimed as he picked his knife back up and finished cutting up the meat and cheese in front of him.

Once he was done, he put the food on a plate and walked over to the duo. Setting it down in front of him, he plopped down on the couch. Ginny's eyes lifted and she looked at the plate like it was a last meal, before looking up at Draco with pleading eyes. Draco popped a piece of cheese into his mouth as he watched the red head from the corner of his eye.

"No." he stated popping another piece in his mouth.

"Please?" Ginny asked with sad eyes. "I am starving."

Draco let out a breath through his nose and rolled his eyes, before taking a few pieces of both meat and cheese off his plate and handed her the rest. He might be a slimy Slytherin but he wasn't evil enough to let a pregnant woman starve.

Ginny jump for joy in her seat and began digging in.

"Do you have any ketchup?" she asked with her mouth full.

"Ewe, really?" Draco questioned with a raised brow.

Ginny nodded her head as she swallowed.

"Oh and pumpkin juice?"

"I am so glad I am not a pregnant woman." Draco expressed, finishing his last few bites and stood up to walk to the kitchen to get the items Ginny asked for.

"Just a pregnant woman?" Harry chuckled.

Draco turned his head while opening the fridge and gave Harry a death glare.

"I think I have a better plan though, to get Hermione." Ginny announced as she took a bite of a piece of bologna.

Harry looked as his wife, while taking a piece of cheese and Draco looked up from the glass he was pouring.

"Really? And what, pray tell, would that be?" Draco asked putting the cap back on the pumpkin juice.

Ginny chewed a few times before swallowing and looked back and forth between the two men.

"You have the right idea with distracting, but you are distracting the wrong person." She began.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked leaning back and resting his arms over the couch.

"I mean…" She swallowed another bite and took the glass and ketchup from Draco as he moved to sit back down. "Hermione won't just come because I say I have a girl problem. If anything, she would floo me to discuss it; unless it was an emergency, and in that case, my numbskull of a brother would come too…You need to distract Ron, not Mione."

"And how do we do that?" Draco asked leaning back and crossing his arms; watching the red head disgustingly, squirt ketchup all over her plate.

"Easy…There is a pre-season Quidditch game going on tonight. My team the Holyhead Harpies, are playing the Bulgarians." She licked her fingers "Bring him there and we can distract him long enough for you, Malfoy, to disapparate Hermione here, where Ron can't enter via disapparition and…he doesn't know where you live."

"So kidnap her? I knew it was good plan, Potter!" Draco threw a hand in the air.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked back to his wife.

"So, we get Ron's attention on the match and Malfoy…You can use my invisibility cloak to sneak in and grab Hermione…This actually might work."

"Should have brought me in sooner." Ginny stated, as a matter of fact, as she dusted off her hands and took a sip of her juice.

"Yeah well, now we know not to exclude you anymore." Draco stated, wrapping an arm around the back of the sectional. "So what time is this game at?"

"Seven." Ginny replied setting her glass down. "I'll get a VIP ticket for Ron. He will most likely be okay with leaving Hermione temporarily, to go meet the Bulgarian team in their locker room. That is when you grab her. I can't play due to my condition, but I am expected to be there, so it won't look suspicious if Harry and I go. You will also have to stay under the cloak the whole time so Ron doesn't see you. We will pull him off to the side and as soon as he is distracted, you make your move…You will have to be quick about it, I don't see Hermione being someone who will go easily against her will…or, not will" She looked off into the distance, confused. "I don't know what to call it now that she is being cursed and has no free will. Are we absolutely certain, my git of a brother cursed her? I mean its Ron for crying out loud; he wouldn't hurt her."

"We are sure-ish." Harry answered "But there might also be someone else. I don't see Ron intentionally using an unforgivable. I think he might be under the spell too."

"Doubtful." Draco rolled his eyes "He is in love with her and he said it himself. If it is the last thing he does in life, he will make sure I will never see her again…Don't you remember when I said he can't control her? He blatantly said 'We'll see'. I think he planned to Imperius her the whole time."

"If what you are saying is true," Ginny cut in, holding a finger up "Then he doesn't have a strong hold on her. He is terrible at even the simplest of spells. But that is good news for us; once she is far enough away from him, the spell will lift." She leaned her hand against her head "She will never forgive him…I don't think even I could forgive him if he really is capable of something so dangerous; and he is family. I still can't wrap my head around it being him…Mione is going to murder him."

"Not if I kill him first." Draco added with an intense expression.

"I didn't mean literally kill him, Malfoy."

"I did."

"Okay, well…I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill my brother, please."

"I am not making any promises, Weaslette. If I find out, he really is cursing her…He won't live to see how pissed off Hermione will be."

Ginny's face frowned at the realization that Draco was telling the truth. He knew he would do whatever it took to protect Hermione. In fact, they all knew how low he was willing to go, to get what he wants. They experienced it back in sixth year; the year he still regretted to this day.

"I am begging you. Please don't kill him." Ginny stated with worry.

Draco sat quietly on the couch, while looking at fingers, not wanting to answer her. No matter what truth he said, it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear and he wasn't about to lie to her.

Ginny dropped her shoulders and looked to Harry with pleading eyes.

"Gin, we both know there is nothing I can say or do to stop him." Harry claimed with a sadden expression. "Let's just first, get Hermione and then we will sort everything out later, alright?"

She nodded her head but still didn't look to accept his answer as she entwined her hands around Harry's bicep and laid her head on his shoulder.

"We should prepare for tonight." Draco stated, breaking the silence.

"Right…So Ginny will go to the stadium and grab the VIP ticket, I will go and grab the cloak, and Malfoy…Uh, you just wait here until we get back, I guess."

"Sure, Potter. Whatever you say." He sighed and kicked his legs up on to the couch.

"Okay, well we will meet you back here at six. Sound good?" Harry asked, moving closer to the edge of his seat.

"I don't think I really have a choice, now do I?"

"Not really, no. Not if you want to save Hermione." He replied.

"I do want to save her!" Draco retorted in defense.

"Calm down, Malfoy. I know you do…We all do." Harry explained calmly "And we will."

A few awkward minutes of silence passed, before Harry went to stand; but Ginny's voice broke through the quiet; like a thousand knives coming at Draco all at once. A single question that he was not prepared for, threw him so off track with his thoughts that he just sat there, with a stunned face.

"What was it like…being trapped?" she asked sadly, moving her eyes to look at him. "…I know no one has asked you that since…well, since that day."

Draco took in a deep breath while lowering his head, as she waited patiently for him to answer.

"You don't want to know." He finally replied.

"But I do…I care about what happened to you both. I want to know."

Draco raised his head slightly to the red headed woman sitting across from him, with tears forming in his grey eyes.

"It was horrible…"He began "I…we, almost died numerous times." He lowered his head back down.

"How?" she asked, curiously, but with a gentle tone at the same time.

He let out another sigh as the two Gryffindor's sat leaning forward, awaiting his next words.

"Well, we almost fell to our deaths in the lift… almost got crushed by a muggle car; there was also the fire which weakened the floor and we both hung over it, as we struggled to save two of my employees who didn't make it…and then." his face fell to grief "…and then we fell through multiple levels until we crashed into the parking garage, I never wanted placed in the building to begin with. Hermione got impaled and I almost had my head smashed in by a large piece of rubble after landing on top of a car and going unconscious…and all I could think about…was her. She had saved my life more than once that day. She cleaned my leg, helped me walk; she never once complained about it or showed that she was struggling. I owe her…" He looked back up at them "I owe her everything."

"You helped her too." Harry chimed in, after no one spoke for a few seconds.

"But I didn't." Draco continued. "Yeah the first time she fell I caught her but the second…"

"I don't mean when she fell, Malfoy." Harry interrupted.

Draco looked to the raven haired man before moving his eyes to the table; wondering just what he meant.

"You were strong for her when…when she died, for that brief moment." Harry teared up slightly.

"Was I though?" Draco questioned, confused. "I didn't feel strong…I felt hopeless, weak…powerless."

"Really?" Ginny raised a brow "Because holding it together and keeping her happy, while she was bleeding out, sure sounds like being strong to me. And from what she has told us, when she gained that memory back…you were there for her. Even in the hospital, Malfoy, you stayed positive for her."

"I guess…I just, never had to do something like that before."

"Sometimes, Malfoy, we don't know how strong we really are, until being strong…is the only choice we have."


	13. Chapter 13- Quidditch

Chapter 13- Quidditch

 **Saturday August 13** **th** **, 2005 06:13pm**

"I am not wearing that!" Draco announced "That shit is too small. Do you see my height, Potter? That thing is made for someone small."

"We don't really have a choice here, Malfoy." Harry began, holding up the invisibility cloak "You'll have to crouch."

"Are you kidding me? That thing is made for a child, not for an almost six foot tall adult. Why can't I just grab her without the damn blanket?"

"Because Ron will see you and do everything he can to make sure you are nowhere near Hermione; making it harder for you to get her. You are the one who is supposed to grab her while we distract him. Plus," Harry added "there will be too many people around. You can't just kidnap someone in a large crowded place without anyone seeing you. She is going to put up a fight, so we need to get her somewhere semi alone, that way you can grab her and hold her long enough until you can get her out of the stadium to disapparate."

"Can you at least enlarge it? Half of my body is going to show and I can't really avoid running into people on my hands and knees; let alone kidnap my girlfriend."

"So she is your girlfriend now?" Ginny asked with a friendly smirk "Does she know that?"

"Piss off, Weaselette. You know damn well what I mean."

"Well someone is touchy." She ticked.

"Anyway…" Harry cut in "I have actually never tried enlarging it…I don't even know if it is possible." He tilted his head and looked at the cloak.

"And why wouldn't it be possible? We can enlarge everything else in the world." Draco asked, crossing his arms as he stood in the center of his living room, looking at Harry.

"Because Death himself, made it, Malfoy. It is one of the Deathly Hallows, remember? I doubt it can be altered in any way."

"Well it doesn't hurt to try." Draco stated firmly.

"It might, actually…Who knows what will happen if I try."

"Just try, Potter." Draco threw his hands in the air.

"Okay, okay!" Harry stated, holding a hand up.

Harry laid the cloak on the coffee table and brought out his wand. He pointed it at the cloak and took in a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing…Engorgio."

To everyone's surprise, the cloak enlarged with no problem. Draco looked up at Harry and smirked before leaning down and picking the cloak up.

"Look at that; you lived." Draco stated looking the cloth over.

"Can we just, go over the plan one more time before we leave?" Ginny asked, as she fixed the top to her Quidditch uniform.

"Why are you wearing that again?" Draco asked, placing the cloak in his suit jacket.

"I have to. Just because I can't play doesn't mean I can't support my team."

"Right…so anyway, "Draco began "as everyone knows, to prevent people from sneaking in, disapparition is banned, along with real and fake invisibility cloaks and certain spells. We will go in separately; Potter distracts Weasley long enough for Weaselette to pull Hermione to the woman's bathroom. That is when I will don the cloak and sneak in."

"Okay, seems solid. And we had a barn owl earlier, deliver the ticket to Ron and I made sure it didn't leave without a response on if he is going; he will definitely be there with Hermione." Harry claimed "But if anyone asks, I am not a part of this. My job could be on the line for one, not reporting this and two, for helping aid a kidnapping. I would rather not get fired and potentially be sent to Azkaban, so let's make this as smooth as possible, alright?"

The group nodded before preparing themselves to disapparate. Ginny handed each of them a ticket to enter the stadium before Harry took Ginny's hand in his and turned to face his wife.

"Code word is Pineapple…if shit hits the fan."

"Really, Pineapple?" Draco raised a brow. "That sounds stupid."

"What? It was the first thing that came to mind." Harry shrugged as he looked back to Ginny. "Ready?"

She looked up at Harry and half- smiled.

"Let's do it." She stated before Harry turned his head to Draco.

"Ready, mate?"

Draco nodded his head and uncrossed his arms. Harry glanced back at his wife and disapparated away. Draco looked at the empty spot, before sitting down and waiting the fifteen minutes he was told to wait until he was allowed to go.

After five minutes, his leg shook in anticipation and he had to stand up. He paced back and forth for a few more minutes before moving to sit back down. He was getting restless and the wait seemed like it took hours. He worried about if the plan would work and what would happen if it didn't. This was his only chance to help Hermione and he was afraid he would fail her, again.

" _Sometimes, Malfoy, we don't know how strong we really are, until being strong…is the only choice we have."_

Ginny's words to him from earlier repeated in his mind and he tried to push them aside, but then Hermione's words floated through his head.

" _You're not weak and you are not alone. You are stronger than you think you are."_

"Merlin's beard! Get out of my mind!" he yelled out, holding his hands to his head.

" _I trust you."_

"For fuck sakes! I get it, okay? I will stop doubting myself!"

Draco waited until he heard another voice, but nothing came. It wasn't like he was going crazy or anything; he just couldn't stop thinking of positive shit and he blamed the two female Gryffindor's for trying to show him the light, that rested in his darkness. They both were becoming too big of pain but he couldn't help admire their strengths and courage. He knew for a fact, that if the rolls were reversed right now, Hermione would do everything in her power to help him. He needed to do the same.

He looked up at the clock on the mantel and realized he was going to be late if he thought anymore on being strong. So he stood up from the sectional and disapparated away.

Landing just outside the gates to the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch Stadium, Draco looked around the large crowd of witches and wizards that were gathered around. Straightening his jacket he pushed through throng of people to the ticket booth.

Once he had handed the man at the booth his ticket, he walked through the Blocked Barrier that limited magical use on the property. Making his way inside, he scanned the mass of people for any sight of Ginny and Harry. It took him until the game started to find them and once he did, he held back some so that he would not been seen with them.

He watched as Ron Weasley approached the duo with Hermione in tow. Draco couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked to him before realizing he needed to move closer to hear what they were saying. As he inched closer, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he could sort of hear what the group was saying. He moved a little bit closer but stopped in his tracks when Hermione turned around.

Ducking quickly, he pretending to wipe a scuff off of his shoe and waited until she turned her head back to the group.

"So where is Malfoy? Figured he would be with you two." He heard Ron ask with disgust.

"I don't know." Harry answered "We aren't best friends, mate. We only tolerated him because Mione liked him for a little while." He lied.

"Good. Because she doesn't like him anymore and she never will again." Ron replied, crossing his arms.

"Trust us." Ginny stated "He was just a phase, we promise."

Draco took notice that after Ginny's lie, Hermione seemed happier than he had seen her the past few days, and he had a feeling she would only get pissed, when she saw him; all because Ron's energy was radiating off on her.

"Good to know they can't fucking ban Unforgivables here." Draco expressed under his breathe with an eye roll.

Standing back up when the group moved away, he slowly followed; leaving a good distance between himself and his mission. When they stopped at their respective seating, Draco took out his ticket and looked at the seat he was supposed to be at. Walking to Row 14, he realized Ginny had given him the perfect seat on the end to watch over them as they were placed four rows in front of him.

Any other day, Draco would have ignored the group in front of him and watched the game as it unfolded. This time though, he ignored the game. He cheered when the crowd went wild and he booed when he deemed appropriate. He didn't even know what team he was rooting for as he watched for Ginny's signal closely.

It wasn't until the game was about an hour in, that Ginny turned around and spotted him. She quickly nodded her head to let him know she was about to begin her part of the mission, before turning back to Hermione and whispered something in her ear.

His leg began to shake again in anticipation causing the person next to him to finally take notice of who was beside him.

"Bloody hell! You're Draco Malfoy! What are you doing down here with us? You should be up in the VIP Section!" the man exclaimed in delight.

Draco quickly turned his head to the man and realized he said his statement loud enough, for the group in front of him to hear. Panicking, he leaned forward to hide himself when the group turned around.

"What are you doing down there, mate?" the man asked, also leaning down.

"Would you shut up?" Draco asked in an angry tone.

The man gave him a questioning look and Draco knew he had to make up a lie to get the man off his back.

"I am hiding from an ex-girlfriend and you just basically just announced my location!" he whispered.

The man made a 'O' face before straightening himself back up.

"FALSE ALARM EVERYONE! MY MISTAKE! WASN'T HIM!"

"Thank you." Draco responded before peaking above the chair in front of him.

Harry seemed to distract Ron well enough but Ginny was having a hard time keeping Hermione's attention. Draco knew he had to get out of there. His cover was now basically blown and he had to act fast. So, as carefully as he could, he slid out of his chair and crouched. Moving forward down the stairs, he made his way to Ginny, who was sitting at the end of the row. He tapped her lightly as he hid slightly behind her.

Ginny turned her head and looked around before her eyes landed on him.

"Get out of here." She whispered, once she realized who tapped her.

"I am trying, but I need their attention drawn elsewhere or else they will see me leave." He whispered back.

"Who are you talking to?" Hermione asked, looking over Ginny.

Draco ducked back and prayed to Salazar, that Hermione didn't see him.

"No one!" Ginny replied quickly "Just a stranger asking for an autograph." She smiled while waving a hand in the air.

"Oh, okay." He saw her smile from the angle he was on, before turning her attention back to the game.

"As soon as I am able to leave, get Hermione to the bathrooms." He whispered loud enough for only Ginny to hear.

She nodded her head but stayed focus on the scene in front of her.

Suddenly the crowd stood up and cheered as The Holyhead Harpies scored a goal. Draco realized that that was his chance. He stood up quickly and ran out of the stands as fast as he could. He had to push past a lot of people but he had made it to the food stand area of the stadium, without being recognized again or noticed by Hermione or Ron.

He paused to catch his breath before making his way over to the bathroom area. He stopped however, when he saw the large line weaving out of the woman's restroom.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, clenching his fists and looking around for a new strategy.

A janitor with floating brooms sweeping the floor behind him, walked past him and instantly he had a new idea. Following the man, he watched as he entered a closest in-between the restrooms. The closet had walls blocking it from being seen, unless one was looking straight at it, and Draco thought it would be perfect.

He casually walked up to the door and waited on the side until the man left. He didn't have to wait long as the door swung open, only about a minute later. Using the door to hide himself, he held it open as the janitor exited and quickly snuck in.

Once inside, Draco donned the cloak and waited. Cracking the door open slightly, he peered out and saw Ginny, walking with Hermione, to the women's rest room. He waited for the right opportunity but he knew it would be difficult since Ginny was on the wrong side. As the women stood at the end of the line, Draco snuck out of the closet, careful to leave the door propped open, and made his way over to Ginny.

Whispering in her ear, she jumped in surprise before realizing who approached her. He had to back up to avoid being hit by her swinging hand and almost bumped into to some random strangers behind him. Quickly righting himself, he went back up to the red head.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, looking at her friend with a puzzled look.

"Yeah…Yes, I just thought I saw Professor Snape." She replied, while catching her breath.

"Snape is dead Gin." Hermione raised a brow.

"I know." Ginny retorted in frustration "It was just someone who looked like him and it startled me, alright?"

"Alright jeeze. No need to get your knickers in a twist." Hermione eyed at her friend for a little bit longer with a confused expression, before looking back in front of her.

"Merlin Ginny." Draco whispered, while placing his hand on her right shoulder "It's just me…Listen, I need you to make sure Hermione is on your left when you exit the restroom. Get her as close to the closet as you can, alright?"

Ginny nodded her head and took a step forward when the line moved. Draco stepped back and made his way over to the closet again. He waited for what seemed like forever and thought strongly as to why it took women forever just to use the loo. After about ten minutes or so, Ginny and Hermione walked out of the restroom.

Ginny stopped however, and pointed to the door. She said something to Hermione but he couldn't hear what was spoken; he didn't need to though, because Ginny started walking the other Gryffindor closer to the closet. He could see from the angle he was on, Ginny pick pocket Hermione's wand from her bag and he was never more grateful that there was at least one smart Weasley in that family.

"I'll be quick. Just wait here while I go grab my change of clothes from Harry." She stated.

Hermione nodded her head and both she and Draco watched as Ginny began walking away. This was his chance and he was going to succeed. Draco opened the door as silently as he could and walked up behind the unsuspecting Golden Girl.

He looked around briefly to make sure no one was watching before slipping a cloaked hand over Hermione's mouth and dragging her back to the closet. She screamed and tried to fight him off of her but he was too strong as he pulled her out of view. Once they were both inside, he closed the door and released his grip on her.

Standing in front of her exit, he removed the cloak and pulled out his wand.

"Lumos." he whispered, and the small dark closet lit up.

"What the fuck do you-Malfoy? What the hell do you think you are doing? Let me out of here you slimy troll!" Hermione expressed as she tried to push her way past him.

He pushed her back and watched as her angry expression turned to a frightened one as she patted herself to find her wand. When she noticed she no longer had it, she began to try and push past him again; but she failed.

"Would you stop?" He expressed pushing her away again. "You are not getting out until you cooperate and come with me."

"Why the hell would I go anywhere with you, you foul git?"

"Well one, that was rude." He stated as she huffed and crossed her arms "And two, because I need you to trust me. I can't explain right now but I need to get you out of here."

"I will never trust you and I will never go anywhere with you!" she yelled in anger.

"Please don't make me do this the hard way." He begged.

"Do your worst! You think I will go anywhere with you without putting up a fight, then you are sorely mistaken. I have been kidnapped by much worse than you, you weak coward!" she spat.

He took a step forward.

"Touch me and I will scream." she held up a finger and stepped back.

"If you were going to scream, you would have done it already when you saw who grabbed you." he claimed as he pocketed his wand, knowing he wouldn't be able to use it in the stadium.

"Do not test me, Malfoy!"

"Too late."

Draco moved forward as fast as he could and placed his right hand over her mouth and moved to stand behind her; holding her in a one armed bear hug. She kicked and screamed but his hand muffled her voice. He took notice then, that he probably should have put the cloak on first and knew now, that it would be hard to put it on while holding her.

He moved her closer to the cloak on the floor and bent down to pick it up, but his hand slipped slightly. She took that opportunity to break free from his hold; biting down on his hand hard, he let out a scream as she rushed out of the closet while a stunned and in pain Draco, bent over holding his hand.

"Fucking hell!" he hissed as picked up the cloak and ran out of the room to chase after her.

"PEARs! PEACHES! PLUMS!" he began shouting as he stuffed the cloak in his pocket. "Damn it! What the fuck was the code word?"

"PINEAPPLE! PINEAPPLE!" He heard Ginny yell out, over the noise of the crowd.

"FUCKING PINEAPPLES!" he shouted in frustration, holding his hand that was now bleeding.

Draco began dashing in the direction he saw Hermione run to and ran smack dab into a person, making them stumble forward. Shaking off the stun, he was about to apologize and keep going, when he saw who he had just run into.

"Draco?...Merlin's beard dear, are you trying to kill your mother?" Narcissa Malfoy began, as she dusted off the nonexistent dirt on her black dress. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Mother! What are you doing here? You never come to Quidditch games." He asked in shock.

"We are a sponsor of the Bulgarians…Don't you remember?" She asked tilting her head slightly "Since your father is in Azkaban and you were off creating a company of your own, I was left to be the face of the Malfoy name...Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost-OH, your hand!" she stepped forward to take Draco's hand in hers.

"I am fine, mother." He began, pulling his hand back and started looking over her shoulder. "Look, mother, I would love to catch up but I really have to go. I will visit soon, I promise." With that, he ran past his mother.

"But, Draco-" he heard her call out for him, but he didn't have the time to stop and explain anything.

He kept running in the direction he last saw Hermione and hoped he could still get to her. He ran past so many witches and wizards, he feared he lost his only chance to save her.

But then he spotted Ginny running towards the exit gates and stopped to follow her line of sight. He saw Hermione running to the gate and he instantly started for her.

She looked like she was about to alert a security member but turned around and saw him coming at her, so she instead, she continued to run. Draco's long legs were no match for Hermione and he was catching up fast. As she raced out of the stadium and into the open field to disapparate away, he caught up and tackled her; but neither of them had a chance to fall to the grassy ground below. He quickly thought of his flat and disapparated both of them away; leaving an out of breath Ginny, alone in the field.


	14. Chapter 14- Beginning

**SOME MATURE CONTENT IS PRESENT IN THIS CHAPTER. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK…OR JUST SKIP OVER THAT PART LOL. Also, I made this chapter a little longer for you all as well :)**

Chapter 14- Beginning

 **Saturday August 13** **th** **, 2005 09:04pm**

Draco apparated into his flat and landed hard on top of Hermione as they fell to the ground. Quickly rolling off of her, he took out his wand and placed his anti-disapparition charm back up so she couldn't leave.

He sat up and got to his feet. Looking down at Hermione sprawled out on the floor, he reached a hand out to help her up, but she smacked it away. Standing up on her own, she dusted herself off and looked around before her eyes angrily landed on him.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" She screamed.

Holding up his hands in defense, he slowly back away from her as she moved forward.

"HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP ME! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME YOU FOUL, LOATHSOME, EVIL, LITTLE COCKROACH! If I had my wand on me, Malfoy, I swear I would hex your balls off this instant!"

"Hermione, listen to me, please. You are under the Imperius curse. I had to get you out of there. I am sorry but it was the only way." He tried to explain.

"You are a lying sack of shit! Why did you really kidnap me? Tell me the truth or I swear to Godric I will murder you with my bare hands!"

Draco continued to back up as she moved closer to him. His heels hit the side of the couch and he realized he was now trapped.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He exclaimed, looking back to her, lowering his hands.

"Try me Ferret!"

"Weasley cursed you!" he blurted out.

Hermione stopped only a few feet away from him and furrowed her brows.

"Do you ever stop lying?" she shouted in frustration "When are you ever going to learn to not be such a slimy Slytherin?"

"I am not lying! Potter and Ginny know it too and they are the ones who helped me!"

"Oh my Godric!" she exclaimed in anger "You are so full of it!"

"I am not! You got pissed at me and your friends for no reason after we left the hospital and suddenly you no longer loved me and were all over that fucking Weasel! I saw your eyes glaze over, Hermione; very similar to how they look now! Ron Weasley used an unforgivable on you!" he shouted back.

Hermione took one more step closer to him and raised a hand; smacking him hard across his left cheek. His head turned to the right as his mouth opened in shock. He clenched his eyes when the pain started to set in and adjusted his jaw with his uninjured hand. He knew now, why she never complained about helping him stand at Malfoy Tech.; she definitely had a lot more strength in her then when she punched him in third year.

"He would never use an unforgivable; let alone use one on his best friend!" she hissed through clenched teeth. "He loves me and I love him! Now take me back this instant!" she pointed a hand away from her to emphasize her point.

"No!" he shouted looking back at her "You don't love him like that! That is the curse talking!"

"You are so pathetic! I can't believe I am even-"

Hermione suddenly stopped what she was saying and looked at Draco with a blank expression; her hand slowly lowering to her side. He straightened himself up and watched as her milky white eyes began to turn back to normal and she lowered her head.

"Hermione?" he tilted his body to look at her.

She lifted her head slowly and looked at him with sad teared filled eyes.

"You left me." She whispered.

"What?"

"You…left…me." She stated firmly; her brown eyes now becoming angry again.

"Hermione I-"

She never let him finish as she began hitting him in the same fashion Ginny had earlier, and once again, he had to shield himself with his arms.

"How could you leave? You just left me alone in the alleyway, you pompous jerk!" She continued to keep hitting him over and over.

"STOP HITTING ME!" He shouted.

"NO!" she screamed back.

Draco tried to back up more, forgetting how close he was to the couch, and fell over the arm. But Hermione didn't stop hitting him.

"You are an arse Draco Malfoy! A complete and utter arse!"

"WHAT IS IT WITH YOU WOMAN HITTING ME TODAY? WOULD YOU STOP! DAMN IT HERMIONE, STOP!"

"HOW COULD YOU! I TRUSTED YOU! I HATE YOU!" she screamed as she began to cry.

Draco's face fell and he lowered his arms, no longer caring that she was beating him with the palms of her hands.

"Fight back you coward! Fight back!" she shouted while continuing to whack at his arms and legs.

"No! I am not going to fight you."

"You are a coward! You are weak and pathetic!"

"I know." He said calmly and momentarily, she stopped hitting him "I told you…I am not good enough for you."

That answer apparently wasn't the one she wanted to hear and she went back to slapping him.

"How dare you tell me who is and is not good enough for me! How dare you walk out on me!"

"I AM SORRY, OKAY?"

Almost instantly, Hermione stopped hitting him and lowered her hands to her side; but her anger never disappeared.

"You're not sorry…If you were sorry, you wouldn't have waited days to find me." She wiped her face with the back of her hand before angrily staring at him while trying to hold back more tears.

"What?" Draco asked confused "Hermione I always knew where you were, but you were under that curse for so long that I couldn't get to you until now. You were freaking out and told me you wanted nothing from me, so I left. I had planned to find you after I calmed down some. I didn't want to say something I didn't mean."

Hermione's cocked her head to the side and looked at him as if he was sprouting horns.

"Curse? What curse?"

"The Imperius curse? You didn't know you were under it?" he asked tilting his head slightly. "Everyone who is under that curse can feel they have been put under it."

"I didn't feel anything…I-I didn't feel a thing."

"It wasn't strong enough to completely control you. Maybe…maybe that's why you didn't feel it. It's been a few days and I can only recall you being out of it a couple of times. But it was only for a few minutes."

"Who would curse me?"

"I…I don't think you want to know right now…You just sort of calmed down and when I told you a few minutes ago, you slapped me; pretty hard I might add." he stated as he sat up straight and threw is legs off of the arm of the couch.

He touched a hand to his jaw as he remembered how strong she smacked him.

"Who…cursed…me?" she asked firmly, tightening her hands into fists at her side.

"Hermione I-"

"Damn it Draco! Tell me!" she stomped her foot.

"Weasley!" He blurted out, not wanting to make her any angrier at him then she already was. "At least Potter, Ginny and I think it is him."

"What? That is absurd! Ron would never-"

"But he did." He cut her off as he moved his hand to touch the cheek she hit "To get you away from me when he found out I wasn't going anywhere and I loved you back."

"Loved?"

"What?" he looked up at her perplexed as he lowered his hand.

"You said loved…You don't love me anymore?" she asked with a fallen face.

"That is all you have gotten from what I said? I would ask if you have lost your damn mind but apparently, that has already happened; more than once. Yes I still love you, I will always love you; even when you have gone berserk and hit me without knowing my side."

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean any of those awful things I said." She sulked her shoulders and moved to stand in front of him "I was just so mad that you left."

"Hermione? We…we figured out that you were under the spell when I left…How do you remember, me leaving?...Actually, how do you know that it took me days to get to you?" he raised a brow.

"I-I don't know." She looked off the side to think. "I remember days passing, but only miniscule amounts of time during."

"You really thought I would stop loving you because you went a little crazy?" he asked changing the subject.

She looked back to him with sadden features.

"I hoped you wouldn't."

Draco let out a sigh and stood up. He took a step closer to her and reached out his hands; pulling her into a deep hug.

"I will never stop loving you, Hermione." He claimed, kissing the top of her head. "Salazar, I missed you." he expelled through a breath, holding her tighter.

"I can't really say the same since I didn't know you were gone that long." She giggled hugging him back. "But, I love you too." He felt her smile into his chest and he couldn't help but smile back.

"So," he expelled another breath and she pulled her head back to look at him "We didn't just get you out of there because we needed to break the spell…We need your help at figuring out if and how, Weasley cursed you. We tried catching him in the act but we could never see him actually use it."

Hermione held a finger up to lips to silence him and he raised a brow in confusion.

"Can we figure that out later? I…I kind of just… I need you to kiss me right now."

"But we should try and figure this all out now?"

"It can wait. I don't remember anything right now anyway so…Will you just kiss me already?"

"Really? You don't want to sit down and I don't know, read about this…or something?"

"Malfoy!"

"You're not mad at me anymore?...I'm sorry, I'm just, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and you start hitting me again out of nowhere."

"I am not going to hit you…my hands hurt and I can read and absorb everything later."

"Hermione, what is going on?" He began pulling back slightly "You never want to not read and I just told you that _your best friend_ , cursed you and forced you away from me and your friends. "Why are you not more angry about this?"

"I am beyond pissed about it but right now I am getting weird flash back of voluntarily kissing Ron and I need to erase it from my memory; and I need you, to kiss me! So kiss me!...Please." she looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"He made you kiss him?" Draco furrowed his brows in disgust.

"Draco, please?" she begged.

He looked down at her and softened his features.

"You only want to kiss me to get him out of your mind?" he asked somewhat saddened.

"What? No! Merlin Draco, don't be so daft."

"Oh I am being daft when you just told me that you want me to kiss you, to remove the memory of you kissing Weasley?" he let go of her and backed away.

"Well yes, but-"

"But what? That is all I am good for? I saved your life- what three times now; sat by your bed side every night you were in a coma, and all you want me for, is to get the fucking Weasel out of your head?" he yelled in frustration.

"Godric Draco, No! Stop acting like such a git!"

"Oh now I am a git again?" he threw his hands in the air "That is just great; wonderful Granger! Bloody wonderful!"

"Why are you getting so mad at me?" she asked, with tears forming in her amber eyes.

"Really?" he shouted "Because I want you to want me for me! Flaws and all!" he threw a hand in the air and ran his fingers through his hair. Taking a deep breath he let it out slowly and calmly continued. "I want you to want me, Hermione…as much as I want you. I don't want to be used to take your mind off of that selfish prick."

"I-I'm not using you." she took a step forward "I want you, Draco…Only you. And I want you to kiss me, as reminder as to why you want me. I want…no I need proof that you actually still want me; even after all the shit we have been through, I want to remember it. I want to remember what happened at your company...I want to remember you. I don't want you to kiss me just because Ron did. I mean that's part of it because I would really like to get those images out of my head, and I might have gone about it all wrong, but…I want you to kiss me to show me how much you love me. Actions speak louder than words; you can't just say you love me and not prove it."

"I have proven it to you! Many times!" he held a hand out to emphasize his point.

"Times I don't remember!" she stomped her foot as a tear slipped down her cheek.

He lowered his hand slowly and gazed at her. He had forgotten that she forgot most of what they went through. And the fact that she was also under the Imperius curse, caused her to lose more of their time in his tower. He wondered if she would even get all of those memories back, if any.

Taking a step forward, Draco lifted his left hand and cupped her face. Leaning down to kiss her; he placed his lips on her soft petal like ones, and pressed gently into her. He had definitely missed her touch and he hated fighting with her. He just wanted to stay with her, in that moment, for as long as he could. But he needed her to remember him; the man she fell in love with, the man he still was.

He deepened the kiss and moved his right hand up to her cheek. After a few seconds of savoring her taste, he went to press his tongue to her lips to ask for permission, when Hermione pulled away and looked down at her shoulder; catching a glimpse of his injured hand.

"Oh my Godric, Draco! Are those teeth marks?" She asked, pulling his hand away from her face.

"Uh…" he cleared his throat "Um…Yes."

"Who the hell did this?" she looked up at him with worry on her features.

"I don't think you actually want to know."

She gave him a serious face and looked back at his hand.

"You are dripping blood on me. Tell me who did this to you, now."

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked squinting his face is worry. "We just made up."

Hermione removed her hands from his and crossed her arms in aggravation. He let out a sigh as he flipped his head back and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds.

"You did; when I grabbed you at the stadium." He lowered his head.

Hermione's face went white and her mouth gaped open.

"But I-"

"Hey hey hey. This was not your fault, okay? You were under the curse and you couldn't fully control what you were doing. I don't blame you." he claimed, touching her shoulder.

"Oh Merlin." she softened her stance "Give me your wand."

"What? I'm not giving you my wand." He pulled his hand back.

"Give me your wand so I can heal it." she held out her hand

"No. Look, I love you and all but I am not giving you my wand. No one but me uses my wand; except that once exception during the war. Also, you just got out of the curse. No offense, but I don't know if I can fully trust you yet with a weapon in your hand."

"Draco Malfoy," her eyes furrowed "You give me your wand this instant or I will never kiss you again!"

"Rude, but we both know you can't resist kissing me." He smirked.

"Do not test me."

"You said that earlier today too and I still was able to tackle you and bring you here." He crossed his arms.

"You are getting blood all over yourself." She held out a hand to point at his white shirt under his suit jacket.

"Yeah because someone wanted to hit me over and over again, reopening the fresh wound SHE gave me."

"All the more reason why you should let me heal it."

"I am not giving you my wand. I can heal it myself when I want to."

"Now you are just being a stubborn brat." She crossed her arms and they both stood there staring each other down.

"Ugh, fine. " She pouted while throwing her hands in the air.

"Don't be like that." he lowered his hands to his sides.

"Why not? I bite you and you won't let me heal it to make up for it! You healed my hand in the lift. It is only fair." she began to tear up.

"Come here." He waved a hand out to her, but she looked hesitant "Come on. I won't bit you like you bit me." He joked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"That is not funny!"

"Too soon?" he laughed "Alright, sorry; but come here. It has been too long since I got to hold you and I don't want to fight with you; especially over a stupid wound."

Hermione took a step closer to him and allowed him to hold her. What he didn't know, was that was her plan the whole time. She quickly reached into his suit jacket pulling out his wand and rushed to step back.

"Are you serious?" he stated annoyed "Give me back my wand."

"What, this thing?" she played with his wand in her hand before holding it straight out and pointing it at him. "You want your wand, Mr. Malfoy? You'll have to come get it…Although, I'll have you know, I am very proficient in dueling."

"It is not a duel, let alone a fair duel, if I have nothing to defend myself with!"

"Then let me heal your hand and I will give it back."

"No! Give it here now or I will tackle you again."

"Nope…I think I'll just hold on to it for a little longer." She smiled and twirled away from him.

Draco had had enough and rushed at her but Hermione was prepared for him and quickly turned around.

"Rictusempra!"

Draco collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter, almost unable to move. The Tickle Charm radiated his whole body and he began crying from laughing so hard. She held him there for at least a full minute before raising his wand again.

"Finite Incantatem."

The spell suddenly stopped and Draco had to take a moment to gather himself as he moved to rest on his hands and knees.

"How…the fuck…are you able…to use my wand…so well?" He asked trying to steady his breathing.

"Good question." She stated holding his wand up to look at it. "Maybe it knows me. I didn't feel any resistance." She pointed it back to Draco. "Want to try another?"

"No, damn it, no." he claimed holding a hand up while picking himself off the floor. "Fine, just heal my hand. But I want it back right after, or else."

"Done." She smiled and stepped closer to him.

He held out his hand and she aimed his wand at the injury.

"Episkey." The wound closed up instantly but blood was still covering his hand. "Scourgify." The blood began to disappear and once it was clear.

He turned his hand over and waved his fingers for her to hand him the wand back.

"No…I sort of like how your wand feels." She smirked "Not as good as mine, but since I don't have mine, I think I will hold on to yours" She winked.

"You want to play games? I will get my wand back, one way or the other. " he expressed as he took his suit jacket off and threw it over the back of the couch.

"Mmm, I don't think s-" But Draco didn't let her finish.

He was close enough to her to quickly reach in and grab her by the waist. Lifting her over his shoulder, he walked a kicking and laughing Hermione back to the sectional. Dropping her on the cushions, she giggled up at him and hid his wand behind her back.

"You know, I don't need a wand to tickle you."

"You wouldn't." she stated as her face fell.

Draco smirked before he moved to straddle her; preventing her for getting away. Once he was on top of her she tried to fight him off but he was a lot stronger than her. He began tickling her sides and she started to squirm as she laughed in hysterics. He always did think she had the best laugh. He moved his hands up to her armpits and began wiggling his fingers to tickle her more. When she rolled slightly to the side, he reached around her and grabbed his wand. Pulling it out, he held it in the air in triumph.

"Yes! I told you I would get OH-"

Hermione grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, before she tilted her head upward and kissed him. He was slightly thrown back but quickly pressed into her, deepening the kiss. He wasn't going to let anything interrupt him this time as he tilted his head and licked her bottom lip.

She opened her mouth for him and he instinctively let his tongue run up against hers. He reached a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in closer to him. He felt his dick get hard as her belly tapped at him with each breath she took. He wanted to claim her right then, but he was scared to go further. He knew what they both wanted, but he had not had sex in so long nor had he jerk off in days. He didn't know exactly how long he would last, and he didn't want the first time with her to go by too quick.

She reached her left hand to run her fingers through his hair, and he almost lost it right then, as their kiss became more passionate. He pulled back from her lips and rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry." He confessed closing his eyes and cursing at himself "It's been awhile and if you keep rubbing your fingers in my hair like that I am going to burst."

Hermione lifted his chin with her right hand but kept her left hand behind his head. She leaned forward and began kissing him again. As she removed her right hand from his chin, she ran her fingers down his chest until she reached his belt. She then turned her hand and grabbed his dick through his pants.

Draco let out a gasping moan and released his lips from hers, but she quickly pushed his head back down and he had to force himself to hold his nut in. She began rubbing her hand against him and he felt an orgasm begin to brew; knowing full well he couldn't hold back for long.

"Hermione I-" he began pulling away slightly resting his left hand on the back of couch; still holding his wand.

"Shh, Draco."

"Mmm" He closed his eyes and turned his head at the sound of her saying his name so seductively.

"You like that?" she asked in a whisper in his ear.

He nodded his head, not trusting his voice and he let out another soft moan as she continued to rub him. She gripped on to his dick harder and he lowered his head to rest in the crevice of her neck.

"Draco." She whispered again in his ear and that, is when he completely lost it.

With a small jerking motion, Draco released himself in his pants and let out a little louder of a moan into her neck. He stayed where he was, panting slightly, as he came down from his high; but slightly embarrassed for what he just did. Hermione though, didn't seem phased by his action and removed her hand from his groin.

She tilted his head back to her again and looked at him with tender eyes; instantly he felt relieved. She kissed his lips softly and he knew then, that he would always melt into her; he wanted to, forever.

"Take me to your room." She whispered as she pulled back.

"Yeah?" he perked up a bit.

She let out a giggle and nodded her head.

"I want you…and you did promise me that after I was all better…" she smiled, letting her sentence trail off.

He leaned down and kissed her again.

"Okay."

With that, Draco got off of Hermione and stood up. Using his wand to clean himself up, he looked back to Hermione who was now standing herself up. Setting his wand down on the coffee table, he walked up to her. Wrapping his hand behind her neck, he pressed his lips into her soft pink one quickly.

The action seemed to throw her off and she almost lost her balance, but he placed his hand around her waist to hold her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he bent down slightly to lift her up by her arse. She enfolded her legs around his waist and opened her mouth for him.

They kissed with such meaning and desperation as Draco began walking her to his Master Suite. He bumped into a table in the hallway, knocking over a decorative pot; breaking it, but he didn't care. He pushed her up against the wall close to his room and began trailing pecks down her neck. Hermione arched her back and lifted her head to give him better access, while she ground her hips against him.

He left a few small bruises on her feather light skin but continued to nip and suck at her neck; finding her sweet spot just below her ear. Reaching a hand under her red t-shirt, he grabbed her left breast and began to fondle it over her bra. She let out a loud but gentle moan while she entwined her fingers through his pale blonde hair; turning him on more. Keeping his hand under her shirt, he maneuvered his hand to hold her back and moved her away from the wall. He was happy he left his bedroom door open and he took the few steps he needed to make it into the overly large Master.

Setting Hermione gently on the edge of the bottom of his King, he pulled back and began undoing his belt buckle. She propped herself up on her elbows to watch him with a wide smile plastered on her face. He pulled his belt from the loops and dropped it on the floor. He then began unbuttoning his shirt and Hermione sat up to removed hers.

He stopped half way down the buttons to stare at her in awe. She looked like a model that should be on the front cover of Witch Weekly. Her red bra accented her tan skin in such a perfect way, that Draco couldn't look away. Apparently though, his staring caused her to feel self-conscious and she moved a hand to cover her stomach. It was then that he realized, she was covering up the long scar she had received in the parking garage.

"Don't." He began, leaning forward to remove her arm. "You are beautiful."

She looked up at him; a small smile rising at the corner of her lips. He leaned down and began kissing the scar that was about six inches in length.

"Why didn't he heal this when you were with him?" he asked looking up at her.

Hermione shrugged and her small smile, faded. His face fell to anger, but he softened his expression, so she wouldn't know how upset he really was.

"I think you look amazing with it but…if you want me to heal it, I can; if it makes you that uncomfortable." He stated softly.

She nodded her head, trying to hold back tears. He quickly kissed her forehead and stood up. Walking out of the room he made his way to the living room and picked up his wand. Draco turned to head back to Hermione and was a quarter of the way down the hall, when he heard a pop behind him.

"Malfoy! Malfoy, please tell me you are still here?" Ginny expressed out of breath.

Draco turned back around with a surprised look and slowly walked back to the living room.

"Oh…"she began looking him over when he came into view "OH! Oh Merlin, did I interrupt something?"

"Uh…Kind of."

"So the spell broke?" Ginny stepped forward.

"Obviously. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the game?"

"Right, that's why I am here." She began pacing in front of the fireplace "Harry tried to keep Ron distracted with the Bulgarians but after they left the locker room, Ron noticed Hermione was not with me and he went ballistic! He is out for blood, Malfoy and no matter how much we tried to convince him that you didn't take her, he won't believe us…" She stopped pacing and her face turned to fear "He knows where you live. I don't know how, I swear on Fred's grave we didn't say anything, but he is headed here now. You have to leave and you have to take Hermione with you!"

"But he can't get in; only you, Potter and myself can, well and Hermione since I brought her here."

"You have a door, Malfoy; a simple blasting curse will let him have access. We don't have time to ward your entire flat. You need to leave and you need to go somewhere he won't think to go."

Draco paused for a moment and looked at the red head, stunned. He couldn't believe his luck today and he knew it was only about to get worse.

"Fuck! Well where the hell am I supposed to take her that he won't think to go? I have no friends and the Manor is one place we all know he will go to first."

Ginny stopped pacing and looked down at the ground to think.

"Malfoy Tech.!" She exclaimed lifting her head and smiling.

"Ginny, there is no Malfoy Tech. anymore. It was torn down, along with the building next to it. Only parts of the parking garage and the lobby remain; and going back there, it will give both me and Hermione nightmares!"

"That is the whole reason he won't think to go there. It is in ruins and it is the perfect hiding spot. The whole street is cornered off. No one is allowed in; no one except a witch and wizard who can apparate without being seen. He won't think to go there. And maybe," she shrugged "Hermione's memories might just come back faster being in that building."

Draco sighed and realized that his old building was his only option and he knew he didn't have enough time to think of somewhere better, let alone argue about it. He would do whatever it took to protect Hermione; even if that meant going back to the place, where it all started.


	15. Chapter 15- Endgame

Chapter 15- Endgame

 **Saturday August 13** **th** **, 2005 09:42pm**

"Draco?" Hermione questioned, walking down the long hallway, fixing her shirt. "I thought I heard Ginny's voice."

Draco turned around and saw Hermione now standing at the end of the hall.

"Mione!" Ginny squealed, rushing in to give her a hug.

"Hey Gin." Hermione hugged her back "What are you doing here?"

"Well besides apparently interrupting happy time between you two; "she giggled before her smile turned into a frown "Ron is coming. We need to get you both out of here now; to give us more time to one, find out if he was really the one who cursed you and two, because he wants to kill Draco and get you back."

"I'm sorry, what?" Hermione asked confused.

"I don't have time to explain again. Malfoy can fill you in when you get to Malfoy Tech."

"Malfoy Tech? What the he-"

"Hermione." Draco interrupted "Right now, it's the only place we can go where Weasley won't find us. We-"

Draco was cut off by loud banging at his front door.

"MALFOY! I KNOW YOU ARE FUCKING IN THERE YOU FUCKING GIT! OPEN UP! I KNOW YOU TOOK HERMIONE AND I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU BLEEDING BASTARD!"

"Shit!" Ginny whispered, grabbing a hold of Hermione's wrist. "You guys have to go! Now!" her eyes widened.

Draco quickly grabbed Hermione's hand as Ginny let go and disapparated them both away; only hearing the sound of a loud blast in the background.

Landing on their feet in front of Malfoy Tech, Draco took a moment to gather his thoughts, before he looked at the remains of his building in shock. He had not seen it since they had been rescued and the idea that his company, once stood where he was looking, made him almost sick to his stomach. It brought back not only memories of when they were trapped, but memories of when he witnessed Hogwarts in the same fashion.

Gripping Hermione's hand tighter, he took in a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" she asked looking up at him.

"Hmm, oh yeah, I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're shaking." She turned to him "What is wrong?"

"Nothing."

"That is not a nothing nothing, that is a something nothing, so tell me what that nothing is."

Draco turned his head and looked at Hermione with wide eyes.

"Did you…did you just remember-"

"You saying that to me?" she cut in "Yes…I remember you saying that…after the fire incident; when we got lost in the halls."

"So…so being back here, is helping you remember somethings?"

She nodded her head and looked back to the building.

"I don't remember this place like you do, but I feel…connected to it, I guess you could say; almost like it wants to tell me something."

"Tell you something? Like what?" he asked raising a brow.

"I don't know." She tilted her head "But it feels like it is something important." She looked back to him "Can we go in?"

Draco looked up at the sky and noticed the storm clouds brewing over head, before looking back down to the ruins.

"I don't think we have any other choice. It looks like it is about to rain and the parking garage is the only cover we will get right now. Plus, we don't want to be caught in a DO NOT ENTER area."

He took another deep breath and let it our slowly, before taking a step, and walking towards pile of torn and shredded metal. Walking into the area that was once the Main Lobby, Draco looked around the vast and vacant room. All of the furniture was gone and the front desk, that once stood tall, was half in splinters due to the vehicle that crashed into it.

"I remember being here." Hermione said calmly walking up to the desk and gently touching it with her fingers "I remember arguing with a blonde woman at the front."

"Ms. Tate." He added.

"She was so rude." She continued "But then, you came down and defended me and fired her. I didn't know what to think. I thought you hated me still; hated my blood."

"I never actually hated your bloo-"

Hermione held up a hand to stop him as she tilted her head and continued to look the desk over. Turning her head she looked down the broken hall, showing only metal beams now, and began slowly walking in that direction. Draco watched as he followed her, leaving her some room so she could remember on her own.

"You made your way down to the lift but I didn't follow right away…I was still in shock that you, of all people, stuck up for me. A much as I wanted to tell you then, how much I was in love with you, I couldn't. I was sure you would hate me even more and then cancel the meeting."

"I would never cancel on you…I wanted to see you." he whispered, looking down at the floor.

He thought she didn't hear him, but if he was looking up, he would have seen her gazing at him in adoration.

"I wanted to see you too." She smiled.

Draco lifted his head as a smile rose to the corner of his mouth. Hermione bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes before turning around and continuing down memory lane.

"I remember the lift…and the car; you saving me." She paused when she stopped in front of the opening to the elevator shaft. "But there is something not sitting right with me."

Draco moved to stand next to her and looked down the empty shaft.

"What is that?" he asked, leaning back.

"How did an EF3 tornado throw a large SUV from the countryside into the tower? They aren't strong enough to do that. They can take roofs off of houses and lift cars but not throw them at that distance."

"What are you saying? That that muggle contraption hitting my building…wasn't an accident?"

"I am not completely saying that, although it is very strange."

"Hermione that is not just strange, that is insane; you know that right? I may have enemies but not any that are capable of throwing a large vehicle into a building. The tornado was just stronger than we believed."

"You don't actually think that do you?" She faced him and crossed her arms "The news said it was EF3. They have wind speeds of 158-206 miles per hour, 254-332 if you measure in kilometers. Yes that is enough force to lift a car, uproot most trees, over turn trains, but Draco, come on; the farthest a tornado that size can throw a vehicle of that proportion is about half a mile. You don't find it a little bit of a coincidence, that your company was at least three plus miles away when the first tornado hit?"

"No. Muggle news likes to over or under exaggerate the truth, depending on what will get them more views. Trust me; I watched that bloody contraption in your hospital room, longer than I care to admit."

"Well I know what I know and I know that that car hitting where it did, when it did, from where it came from…is suspicious to me."

"I think, that you are overthinking this. You are a Gryffindor who has been through a war. You crave and you miss the action of solving puzzles and running into battles, Hermione." Draco explained crossing his arms and leaned against a beam. "You are trying to make something out of nothing. I don't blame you, I get it; it is who you are and it is one of the reasons I fell in love with you. You are so brave, Hermione, and smart," he chuckled and shook his head "Merlin, you are so smart; and strong minded…but what happened, to us, was just nature doing its thing. Say what you want, but that is all it was."

"Yeah well, I don't believe that." She stated firmly, before uncrossing her arms and walked passed him, back to the Main Lobby.

"Didn't think you would." He muttered under his breath.

Following her back to the lobby after giving her a minute to gather her thoughts, Draco stopped when he saw her standing at the top of the ramp leading down to the parking garage. The same ramp they were both brought up from once they were found.

Hermione stared at the entrance with a blank expression. A face not even the Slytherin Prince could read; but a face he knew all too well.

"What are you thinking?" he asked stepping up next to her.

Hermione took in a deep breath as she looked into the dark hole.

"That all of this is just so unbelievable." She began "First we both have hid our feelings from each other in fear that they won't be reciprocated, then we get trapped in a building that fell apart with us still in it, we both had multiple near death experiences, and now…now Ron wants to kill you; which really is nothing new, but to put me under an Unforgivable just keep me away from you…It is all just…unbelievable."

"Yeah…but we found each other and we made it through." He replied, taking her hand "As long as we have each other…we can make it through anything." He smiled.

Hermione turned her head to look at him and half smiled back.

"Well," she continued "since we might be here for a few hours, would you mind, if we went down there?" she asked, pointing down at the entrance.

Draco moved a hand to rub the back of his neck as he contemplated whether to please Hermione or give in to his coward-ness and avoid going down to the place he almost lost her.

"It will be okay, Draco. Like you said, we can make it through anything as long as we have each other." She smiled.

Draco let out a sigh as he looked at the woman before him. He honestly did not know if he should commend her for using his own words against him, twice in one day, or if he should defend his thoughts of not reliving that horrible nightmare that occurred only weeks ago.

"You, are sometimes too smart for your own good." He finally stated squeezing her hand and letting out a dry chuckle. "I guess we are going down."

Hermione smiled and began walking carefully down the ramp. Reaching the bottom they stopped and looked around for a moment before Draco felt Hermione let go of his hand and walk off. He went to follow her when a car, that was not removed yet, caught his eye.

Making his way over, he noticed why the vehicle had not been removed. Its top was crushed by a large piece of concrete; weighting it down. Draco walked around to the front and his heart almost fell out of his chest. He recognized the car, for it was the same one he fell on to. The front windshield was shattered now and the whole front top end sunk in. Bits of his blood, dried on the hood, smeared off to the ground where he slid down.

The whole thing looked surreal to him. Moving his gaze to the pillar he fell in to, Draco raised a hand and held his right shoulder at the memory of when he discovered it was a dislocated. Looking back to the car, he let out a sigh and lowered his head. That is when he heard it, the screaming. It was so loud it made his head snap up. Running to where he heard the noise in a panic, he stopped when found Hermione standing still and looking down. Down at the area, still covered in her blood.

"Hermione! Are you okay? I heard you scream!" he asked rushing up to her.

But Hermione didn't say a word as she looked down at the cut rebar.

"Hermione?" he asked softly, touching her shoulder. "Why did you scream?"

She turned her head, ever so slowly, and looked up at Draco with tears forming in her amber eyes.

"I didn't scream."

"But I heard you, it was so loud and-" He replied, letting go of her shoulder.

"Draco…I didn't scream."

That is when he realized, it was all in his head. But to him, it felt so real and so close. He had really thought she was in trouble.

"I lost a lot of blood." She cut in on his thought.

Draco took in a breath and looked down at the dry pool of liquid on the floor.

"Yeah, I had to donate my blood to you. It's a good thing I'm O-negative." He put his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry what?" she asked turning her head back to him.

"Uh, it's a good thing I'm O-neg."

"No, before that." she held up a hand.

"I donated my blood to you." he raised a brow "We already told you this in the hospital."

"Yes, well I don't remember…wait, Draco…Has there ever been a blood transfer between two people in the wizarding world before?"

"Um, not that I know of…why?"

"Oh my Godric! Draco that's it!" she exclaimed grabbing his wrists with a bright smile.

"What is, it?" he asked confused, pulling his hands out of his pockets.

"Your blood." She began "Your blood is the reason the Imperius curse couldn't fully control me! It's also the reason I could use your wand without receiving any resistance from it."

"Hmm?" he folded his lips in.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully before looking back to him.

"Don't you get it?" she asked cheerfully.

"No, no not really. I mean I understand the wand part but everything else…"

She let out a chuckle as she moved her hands down to his.

"Your blood flows through my veins too. That doesn't make me half-blood or anything but it does make it harder for one to be controlled. Blood replenishing potions are not made of real blood; you know that since you were the best in Potions Class."

"Yeah." He stated, releasing her hand and crossing his arms. "But how does that have anything to do with the curse?"

"Because, having your blood replenished by a potion, only makes that potion act like it is yours. Having a real wizard or witch, give you blood…like the amount you would have had to have given me-"

"Doesn't mold with yours." He chimed in.

"Exactly! It would still help me live but for someone to try and use a spell that controls someone…wouldn't work completely. It's hard to explain but essentially, your blood, since it is magical, protected me. It acted as a small barrier of some sort."

"So…You are saying my blood, fought the curse being used on you? How? The curse affects your brain, Hermione."

"Yes, but the brain is still covered in blood, Draco. That is why I said it created a barrier of some sort. The curse basically had to fight its way through you to get to me; hence why I wasn't fully controlled. I know it sounds crazy but just think about it."

"It sounds farfetched is what is sounds like, but…somehow it kind of makes sense. I know whoever cast the spell was not strong enough and I figured it was because they didn't want to do it."

"Because I didn't!" Someone interrupted, breathing heavily through their nose.

Draco and Hermione quickly turned around and came face to face with Ronald Weasley.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed "What…What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

Draco took a step to stand in front of Hermione and hid her behind him.

"Well it wasn't fucking easy and I had to ask for some help, again!" "Ron began, cracking his neck "Tracking spells are hard to come by."

"What do you want Weasel?" Draco asked furrowing his brows.

"I want you dead, for one, you bloody no good ferret! And I want Hermione back!"

Draco let out a hollow laugh as he went to reach for his wand.

"Ah ah!" Ron ticked, pulling out his own wand and pointing it at Draco's chest "Not so fast you git!"

"What did you mean, you didn't want to?" Hermione asked, looking around Draco.

Ron's eyes moved to Hermione and his face instantly softened.

"I allowed myself to be put under the Imperius so that I could use it on you because I didn't have the guts to do it myself."

"What?" Harry asked, walking up to the trio.

Everyone's heads turned to the right as Harry Potter walked closer to them; eyeing his friend in disgust.

"You were supposed to be our friend, our best friend! Why on earth would you want to hurt Hermione?" he asked with his wand stretched out in front of him.

"I didn't want to hurt her! I just wanted her away from Malfoy and I wanted her to see why she chose me in the beginning!"

"By cursing her?" Draco chimed in "You can't make someone love you by cursing them!"

"Shut the hell up you troll! You don't know shit! I figured out on my own that she would not love me again, which is why I slipped her love potions while she was with me!"

"Merlin Ron!" Harry interjected "You were that desperate to do something like that to her? What has gotten into you? She was your bloody best friend!"

"Everything was fine until the fucking ferret came into the fucking picture, Harry! And then he had to go and save her fucking life making her love him even more and making it harder for me to get her away from him! He ruined my life and I want it back!"

"Who helped you?" Hermione asked holding back tears "Who in their right mind would help you do that to me?"

Draco turned slightly and hugged Hermione close to him as tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

"STOP TOUCHING HER!" Ron screamed in anger.

Hermione looked up at Ron with hatred taking over.

"How dare you!" she began, pulling away from Draco and slowly walked over to Ron with her hands in fists at her sides. "How dare you tell _my boyfriend_ , what he can and cannot do! How dare you curse me and how fucking dare you betray me!...I have done everything for you Ronald Billius Weasley! Everything! I saved your life during the battle, I kept you alive during the hunt for Horcruxes, and I helped you both," she pointed to Harry "solve problems neither of you could do on your own! I was there for you when you got poisoned and I was there for you when your brother died!" she stopped right in front of him and slapped him hard across the face, making Draco smile while letting out a chuckle "How dare you! I hate you and I never want to see your face again!" she slapped him hard again on the other cheek when he lifted his head to look at her. "You make me sick!" She spun on her heels and walked back to Draco. "Give me your wand, Draco!"

Draco didn't even hesitate this time. He pulled out his wand from his suit jacket and handed it to Hermione with pride.

"Hermione, No!" Harry stepped forward and placed himself between her and Ron. "He's not worth it."

"Oh, I think he is plenty worth it, Harry." She turned around and lifted the wand. "You might want to move or else you will be hexed too."

"Hermione, please? We can arrest him and take him to Azkaban. He will have a trial and we can make sure he pays for what he has done."

"HE MADE ME KISS HIM, HARRY!"

"What?" Harry asked, slightly lowering his wand.

"He made me kiss him and Merlin knows what else he tried to make me do! He voluntarily put himself under the Unforgivable so he could have me the way he wanted me! You don't get to try and be the middle man this time, Harry; he dug his own grave and now he gets to lie in it! There is no fixing this!"

"We can sort this out, Hermione. He is still Ron." Harry begged.

"No he isn't." Hermione claimed, a little too calmly "If he was, He wouldn't have done what he did. He wouldn't have hurt me and turned me against everyone. He would have still been a git, yes, but he wouldn't do anything to ruin our friendship. This is not Ron…he stopped being our Ron a long time ago."

Suddenly clapping was heard echoing through the garage; a slow clap that got louder as a person's heels clicked across the cement floor. The group looked around for the source of the noise but could not see anyone. Draco's eyes landed back on Ron, hidden slightly behind Harry, and he noticed the evil smile playing across his lips.

"How very touching, Mud blood." A woman's voice stated, as the clapping stopped and a figure could be seen in the shadows to their left. "Well go on then; kill your best friend. I will wait."

Draco squinted his eyes at the figure, knowing he recognized that voice. His face fell as the woman stepped into the light. He quickly rushed to Hermione and pushed her behind him, holding her there as the woman stepped closer and closer.

"Are you serious?" Harry exclaimed. "She is the one helping you Ron?" Harry turned his head at his friend in anger. "You had her of all people help you with your ridiculous plan?"

"Now now, Mr. Potter. The plan was perfect until Draco went and messed it up." She turned her head to look at Draco.

"Draco." She stated.

Draco furrowed his brows in hate before replying with little emotion.

"Mother."

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay guys! Work and getting last minute stuff for my wedding next month has been hectic. Also I had a minor problem trying to explain the blood thing. It worked in my head but I don't know how well it works written down, so I do apologize if it doesn't make much sense. Anyway only about maybe one or two chapters left before the epilogue!**


	16. Chapter 16- Truth

**I'm sorry for the delay everyone. My mom just had a 10 hour surgery for her cancer on Thursday and I was a little out of it to finish the chapter as I promised some. Although, now it is complete and even better news, my mom is going to be okay. She has a long road ahead of her but she is a fighter and is pushing through it all. Thank you all for your patience! I really appreciate it! Other good news; for those who have asked for this story to continue…Your wish is my command. I have decided that I am going to do a sequel once this story is finished. This however, is the last chapter before the epilogue but, it is the longest chapter of the story. That is just another reason it took so long to post. I wanted to make sure it was good.**

 ****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!****

Chapter 16- Truth

 **Saturday August 13** **th** **, 2005 10:28pm**

Narcissa Malfoy took another step closer towards her son and Draco moved himself and Hermione back. Expected rain from the storm Draco saw earlier, began to pelt the ruined structure above them. He couldn't believe his mother of all people, helped Ron Weasley take Hermione. He was speechless and extremely annoyed all at the same time.

"What do you mean, Malfoy messed your plan up?" Harry asked holding his wand out and pointed at Narcissa.

"Well," she straightened herself up "It was actually twice now he ruined my plan. One part being him kidnapping the Mud blood at the Quidditch game."

"That is why you were there?" Draco asked angrily. "You said it was because we were sponsors of the Bulgarians!"

"And we were. But a year ago we pulled out, due to Victor Krum's injury. You would have known that if you were ever around; which you are not. I was there to keep an eye on you and to make sure Mr. Weasley didn't let you get the drop on him. Apparently, he is worthless."

"Hey!" Ron chimed in.

"Quite, you imbecile!" Narcissa voice was stern, making Ron flinch "You ruined everything! You had one simple job and that was to keep that filthy piece of trash away from my son! You are a failure and you wasted my time." She stopped and pulled at the bottom the vest attached to her floor length grey dress. "Now I know; if you want something done…Do it yourself." She spat with venom in her voice.

"What the fuck, Mother! What is wrong with you?" Draco shouted in anger "I thought we changed our ways during the war? You even helped Potter for Merlin sake!"

"You changed your ways, not me! Potter was different."

"What the fuck is that?" Ron cut in, pointing at Hermione from around Harry.

The group looked to Hermione confused.

"Are those fucking hickeys?" he spat in disgust.

Hermione raised a hand to cover the bruises on her neck.

"You sick fucking bastard! You marked her!" Ron shouted in anger as he stepped forward.

"Did I not tell you be quiet?" Narcissa stated coldly, giving Ron an irritated glare, making him go silent instantly.

Turning back to Draco she cleared her throat and continued.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by this Neanderthal; Potter was different. I was fine hating the Mud bloods from the side line but Voldemort became too much and ruined our good name; he needed to die and Potter was the only one who could stop him." She huffed "And to make matters worse, I had to go a café in Diagon Alley and over hear your new little group of friends talking about how much that filth was in love with you! It made me sick." She spat "So I had to act, and I did. But I thought you were better! My son, would never lower himself to be with a Mud blood…Then I heard from the Greengrass's, that you not only saved this wench's life, but you also stayed by her side the entire time she was in the hospital…falling in love with her! Your father would be so disappointing in you."

"So what?" Draco cut in "It is my life and I can do what I want! You and Father no longer control me and you can't control who I love and don't love! Whether you like it or not, Mother, I am going to marry Hermione and I am going to love her until the end of days!"

Hermione squeezed his arm, as she held on to him from behind. Draco turned his head slightly and saw she was looking up at him with a slightly shocked expression before her lips turned to a warm smile. But out of the corner of his eye, Draco witnessed Ron's face turn deadly before he tried to come at him. Harry though, stepped in front and held the Weasley back.

Once Harry had him under full control and moved his wand to Ron, Draco turned his head back to his mother and scowled.

"What do you mean, you had to act and you did, Mother?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the elder Malfoy; everyone's except Ron's who was still glaring Draco down.

Narcissa let off a chuckle as she began to pace back and forth; taking charge of the room, before stopping and turning her body to face the group with a serious expression.

"You weren't supposed to be in that lift, Draco."

"What?" he asked confused.

"It was just supposed to be Granger and if others got in the way, then so be it, but you were supposed to be safe, up in your office, making your way out of the building. You were not supposed to be on that lift!"

"You are making no sense!"

"Aren't I?" Narcissa tilted her head to the right. "You didn't think it was a little suspicious that a tornado of that magnitude, threw a muggle contraption as far as it did?"

Draco turned his head back to Hermione quickly with his eyes wide open. He thought she was just overthinking things but it turns out she was right and he was starting to question as to why he didn't believe her, again.

Turning his head slowly back to his mother, Draco looked at her while furrowing his brows.

"What…did you…do?"

Narcissa let gave an evil smile before folding her hands on front of her; keeping her body poised.

"I simply…helped nature along." She smirked, while waving a hand in the air "Levitation charms and brooms are quite exceptional when used correctly."

"You were on a broom?" Draco asked in shock.

Narcissa straightened herself before continuing.

"You would be surprised at what I can do…Anyway; I used the wind of the tornado to help give the spell some…momentum." She began to slowly pace back and forth again "I didn't see you at first, only that filth…but then you moved and I realized you would be killed too. So I diverted the vehicle to hit the floor above."

"You…You tried to kill us?" he stated as his face fell.

"No Draco…I tried to kill her." she pointed at Hermione hidden behind Draco's arm. "But because you were in the lift, when you weren't supposed to be, you ruined my plan; so I had to find alternative means. Since you refused to leave her side in that disgusting muggle hospital; I thought it would take longer to persuade you away…but I found another way. I ran into Mr. Weasley on his way back from Romania and after a few days, we devised a plan. It was perfect; he got the girl of his dreams and I got to prevent my son from making the biggest mistake of his life…But then the Rat failed to fully control her through the Unforgivable curse, all because you had to try and be noble, be the hero, her knight in shining armor; you went an gave your blood to this worthless tramp. He failed and now I have to finish the job I started not so long ago."

"Have you lost your fucking mind, Mother?" Draco stated in anger, pointing to his head. "I almost died in this tower! You destroyed my building and you hurt a lot of people!"

Narcissa let off a light laugh, looking down for just a moment before looking back up at her son.

"I believe that it is you my dear, that has lost his mind. You are ruining and tarnishing the family name! I refuse to let you pursue embarrassing yourself and this family." Narcissa pulled out her wand and pointed it at Draco's chest. "Either you move…or I will make you move."

Draco looked over at Harry, who held a worried expression on his features while he tried to hold Ron back. Harry shook his head no, almost pleading with him to not move. Turning his head back, Draco furrowed his brows more and held his ground.

"I won't. She means the world to me and I won't let you hurt her…I love her." he claimed proudly.

Narcissa's eyes grew dark in anger as she stared her son down, before flicking her wrist effortlessly, causing Draco to go flying to the left. Landing hard into a fallen support beam, Draco clenched eyes and his jaw in pain, while letting out a hiss through his teeth. He felt blood dripping down his arm from a cut created from a piece of rebar sticking out of the concrete beam. His once perfectly clean white shirt was now beginning to turn red on his upper left arm.

Quickly opening his eyes, he looked up as he watched Harry let go of Ron and run to block a stunned Hermione holding out his wand. But that decision only added to his problem. Ron, who looked murderous, was now free to come at him; and the red head, didn't hesitate.

Running past the group in front of him, Ron charged at Draco as fast as he could. Draco quickly stood to get out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough. Ron tackled him with full force, causing the air to be knocked out of his lungs; sending them both tumbling over the beam.

Landing hard on the ground on the other side, Draco rolled in pain, holding his stomach, as he tried to get his breath back. Ron however, was back on his feet and come straight at him. Draco saw the punch coming down at him and he quickly raised his arms to block the hard blow. But Ron was not giving up that easily. He continued to keep trying to hit Draco as he now straddled him; and he wasn't doing it in an 'I'm mad at you' way, he was out for blood and he was determined to kill him.

After trying three or four times to hit Draco, Draco had had enough. He not only needed to protect Hermione from his own mother, but he needed to protect himself from the crazed lunatic with a wild obsession.

Blocking the next blow with his left forearm, Draco wrapped his arm around Ron's and punched him hard with his right fist, straight in the face; knocking the weasel back just enough to allow him to push him off.

Rushing to stand as Ron held his bloody nose on the floor, Draco turned to see his mother dueling with Harry and Hermione. Sparks where flying and bouncing off debris as the spells where blocked and cast so fast; he couldn't even tell who was throwing what, as spell after spell lit up the garage.

He quickly jumped over the column and began to run at his mother but he was instantly struck from behind and fell to the ground with a large body on top of him. Lifting an elbow, Draco struck Ron once again in the face to get him off. Struggling to stand up, he almost made it fully to his feet before he felt Ron grab his ankle and pull him back down. He was getting sick of the git coming at him and he decided right then; he was going to finish this.

Turning around he kicked at the red head but Ron moved his blood covered face out of the way just in time and lunged at him. Draco had the same idea and lunged as well. Fueled by anger and hate, Draco over powered Ron quickly and forced him to the ground. Now straddling the Gryffindor, Draco held him on the ground with one hand, by his throat. Ron flailed his arms to try and strike but only managed to claw and scratch at Draco's face.

Draco tried to knock his arms out of the way as Ron pushed and hit him and he almost had full control of the weasel; but a sudden loud scream, echoed in his head, making him momentarily distracted. He turned his head to look at the continuing fight playing out next to them, but noticed that no was screaming. Unfortunately though for the Slytherin Prince, it was distraction Ron used to his advantage.

Ron punched him in the gut, hard, before landing a fist directly into the right side of Draco's jaw, causing him to lose his grip and fall off on to his hands and knees. But Ron was not done. Quickly closing the small gap, Ron jumped on Draco's back and wrapped his arm around his neck, putting him in a choke hold; and a strong one at that.

Instinctively, Draco lifted his hands to pull the arm off him and give him some breathing room, but Ron tightened his grip and pulled back; forcing Draco to his knees.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Ron shouted above the loud noise of spells flying through the air. "I will kill you for touching her! I will kill you for taking her from me!"

Ron pulled back harder as Draco struggled to fight him off but it was to no avail. His grip was too tight and he knew he had to do something. The only thing Draco could think to do was try to stand up and use his height as his advantage. He knew he towered over the weasel and he knew Ron could only hold on for so long if he could get him hanging off the ground.

Risking getting a foot out from under him, he moved his right leg out and inched his foot and moved the upper half of his body forward, giving him enough momentum to lift his body up. But Ron didn't let go and began to tighten his hold more while pulling back to get Draco to be more level with him.

Now fully standing but still leaning backwards, Draco quickly side stepped to the right while letting go of an arm around his neck. He wound up his arm and slammed his elbow into Ron's ribs over and over again until the weasel let go.

Once he was free, he stumbled forward and gripped his neck as he gasped for fresh air. After a few seconds of breathing heavily, he turned around and faced the red head with sheer anger radiating across his whole body. He clenched his fists at his sides and Ron copied him. The duo circled each other with death stares placed upon their features; both contemplating their next move.

But suddenly everything went quite, at least to Draco it did, and a soft whimper could be heard behind him, making him stop instantly. No one else but him could hear it and he started to think he was going insane. But he knew that whimper; it was one he heard before and it was one, he never wished to hear again.

Struggling to not turn his eyes away from the murderous Gryffindor, Draco could hear the soft whimper grow louder and louder and he wanted to cry out. He knew it was a flash back to when he found Hermione and he desperately wanted to go to her. But he knew she was not behind him; he knew, because he could clearly see her dueling his mother behind Ron.

His breathing grew heavier as he tried as hard as he could to not turn around but the pull of Hermione crying was becoming too much for him. He knew she wasn't there and yet he wanted to still turn anyway. Ron titled his head and looked at Draco in confusion for a brief moment as Draco looked to be fighting with himself. Finally giving in to the temptation, he began to turn his head, but that was enough for Ron to move in and tackle him to the ground once more.

He began punching Draco in the face over and over again; only managing to get every other hit to land, but it was enough to cause him pain. He tried to shield himself from the multiple blows but it wasn't enough. Warm red liquid began to spread across his face as Ron continued to punch him and he couldn't think about anything but the agony he was enduring.

And then he remembered; he remembered his promise to himself and to Hermione. He would kill who ever cursed her. That was a promise, he intended to keep. Draco lifted his leg and his hips in one quick motion; startling Ron just enough to get him to stop punching and lean his hands out to break his fall. But Draco was far from done; he wanted him off and he wanted him off now. Doing the motion again, he managed to shove Ron from atop of him, but he was not going to let the fucking weasel tackle him again. He was going to finish him and he was not afraid to end up in a cell next to his father.

Quickly moving to climb atop the red head before Ron could register what happened, Draco decided to not only pay him back for cursing his girl, but forcing her to kiss him and Merlin knows what else. Raising a fist in the air, Draco slammed it down into Ron's terrified face, over, and over, and over again; not even caring that he still wore his large family ring that was now tearing away at the flesh on Ron's face.

All he saw was red now. Red from his hatred towards the man who tried to take his only happiness away, red from pain he had endured, not just from the fight but from the night he almost lost Hermione, and red from the blood splattering off the Weasels face, as each powerful punch landed harder and harder.

Draco didn't hear the shouts and pleas surrounding him, telling him to stop. He didn't see the Chosen One holding his mother at wand point nor did he see Hermione and Ginny crying and screaming out for him. Everything became a blur as hate spilled out of him. Every doubt he had about himself, every action and every choice he made that night; every word spoken afterwards, it all came rushing to the forefront of his mind; causing him to black out from anger. He wanted someone to pay for the misery he endured and he wanted someone to pay for hurting the only woman he had every truly loved.

Ron was no longer fighting back as Draco continued to hit him. Although his punches were getting weaker, he still felt angry. But now, he could hear the crying.

"Draco, please. Please stop." He heard Hermione plead through her sobs.

Stopping instantly, with a punch held in midair, Draco lifted his head and looked at her. Panting heavily, he saw the woman he loves crying with her hand outstretched, pointing his wand at him. Ginny was knelt on the ground next to her, sobbing her eyes out into her hands as Harry began to arrest his now kneeling mother.

Looking back at the damage he had caused to Ron's face, he was half relieved to see him still breathing.

"Please." Hermione begged when he didn't look away for a good while.

Quickly getting off the man he practically pummeled to death, Draco stumbled a bit as he moved away and realized what he just did.

"I…I'm so sorry." he claimed sadly as Ginny ran past him and rushed to her brother. "He…he attacked me." He turned to Hermione who was inching her way closer to him, his wand still out in front of her. "Hermione, please believe me; I am so sorry."

Hermione looked at Draco with fear and worry in her eyes; almost as if contemplating if he was safe to approach. It broke his heart as he watched her look at him like he was a monster. He couldn't blame her though; he did almost kill one of her best childhood friends right in front of her.

Taking a step closer to her with pleading eyes, Draco slightly outstretched a hand to her; hoping and begging she would come to him. He felt the blood running down his face and he knew he probably looked like the monster she saw him as. But Hermione's face softened and she slowly lowered his wand in her hands.

She didn't say anything as she took a moment to look at him before she began to run towards him; encasing herself into his open arms. Burying her head into his chest, Draco held on to her like he would lose her in a heartbeat; he hugged her tightly, refusing to let go. Neither one cared about the blood from his injuries soaking into her brown locks and neither one cared or looked away when a group of Aurors made their way down the ramp and into the parking garage. All that matter to them was each other and all Draco could think, was how grateful he was to have Hermione, safe in his life.

X

 **Saturday August 27** **th** **, 2005 12:42pm**

It had been two weeks since the fight at Malfoy Tech. and two weeks since Draco had any real time alone with Hermione. Everything was chaotic since his mother and Ron Weasley had been arrested and sent to Azkaban. Ron was sentence to five years for purposely and knowingly placing himself under the Imperius curse to take control over Hermione.

Hermione seemed to have taken the news of her best friends sentencing pretty well, but even though she refused to show how much it affected her, Draco knew it upset her deeply. She refused to visit the Burrow, knowing full well that the Weasley family would not only question her and only talk about how Ron messed up, but the fact that everyone there would remind her of him and what they used to have growing up.

Draco didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her, so after a few days of noticing Hermione's irritability every time he suggested she go see them, he stopped asking all together and let her decide for herself when she felt ready.

Hermione had also refused to visit Ron while he rotted away in prison and Draco didn't blame her in the slightest. She did however, visit him the first day he was moved to his new permanent cell, but it was just to spit in his face and tell him she never wanted to see him again. Ron didn't look to take the news very well and looked so broken at how angry she was at him. He fucked up and ruined any and all chances of ever being in her life again. It made Draco feel some sympathy for the red head; Ron only did what he did, to get back the love of his life and protect her. He could understand the pain the man felt though it did not excuse the methods he used to get what he wanted.

As for Draco's mother, she was sentence to life for multiple attempts at murder, using an unforgiveable numerous times, and destruction of property.

Draco had just gotten back from his mother's trial and he made damn sure he gave all evidence and memories needed to put his mother away for good. He had also made sure she would be placed nowhere near his father in Azkaban and that she had a solitary cell with limited contact. He did however, make sure that the new guards, who replaced the disloyal Dementors, gave his mother a copy of the Daily Prophet that showed his proposal to the muggle-born girl he was so desperately in love with. He wanted to make sure she knew he would keep his promise and marry Hermione and he wanted to make sure she saw the large picture that covered the front page of him down on one knee in front of Malfoy Manor, placing the family ring of his ancestors on his beloved fiancée left ring finger.

He wished he could see her face when she read the paper but he refused to visit her. He wasn't without sorrow though; he was deeply upset that he had lost his mother to that prison. He loved Narcissa Malfoy and she was the only one who was every really there for him growing up. She was his mother after all.

It was bad enough losing his father to Azkaban all those years ago, but now he had to go through life again, being the man who everyone pointed, stared, and whispered about. If it wasn't for Hermione, Draco would have moved to a new continent already, just to escape the press and the talk about his family life.

However, the world had changed its views on him since he proposed to Hermione Granger a week ago. They were the centerpiece everyone wanted in on _; Former Death Eater set to marry one of the Golden Trio. How the Malfoy elders and Harry Potter took the news_ , was the headline of every wizarding paper from the UK to the US and it caused them both to avoid traveling outside for a few days. They only saw each other for a few hours at most, every other day due to the press and friends bombarding them with questions.

Today was the first day since the tornadoes, that Draco had all day alone with Hermione and he was unsure how to handle it. Harry Potter, as celebratory engagement gift, had made sure to keep the press away for the day and Ginny, who had forgiven him for almost killing her brother, set up a romantic setting in his Master Bedroom. She placed lit candles throughout and even put rose petals on his clean black sheets and all over his hardwood floor. He wasn't too happy about the rose scent she spritzed on his bedding to help set the mood, but Hermione seemed to enjoy it so Draco let it slide, but just this once.

As Draco lay shirtless in his rose covered bed with an arm resting behind his head and the fireplace crackling next to him, he stared up at the ceiling and thought about all the events that led him to this moment.

He had talked with Harry about the screams he heard during the fight and Harry had told him it was just PTSD finally catching up to him. The idea of wanting to save Hermione when she was impaled and not being able to was, what Harry described, as Draco's biggest fear. The fact that he was back in the place where it happened, caused Draco's mind to think it was happening again, hence why he heard her screams and wanted to run to her. Part of his mind refused to see Hermione fine while dueling in front of him and instead, unwillingly, focused on the terror from the night she died on him.

It made sense when someone other than himself told him why it happened, but he still hated that it occurred. Ginny though, went out of her way to contact a wizard who specialized in PTSD for magical beings, to help him. He was still surprised she forgave him so quickly but she apparently had her reasons.

She had shown up to the fight just seconds after he turned to follow to the whimpering sounds. Ron had apparently knocked her out with a stunning spell while she was in his flat, causing her to be royally pissed at him. Once she awoke, she floo'd the Auror Department and told them what had happened. She then made her way to the tower and helped Hermione and Harry, over power his mother.

Ginny apparently only forgave Draco because she knew he had to do what he had to do. She also knew, from their previous conversation that day, that Draco stated he would kill whoever cursed Hermione and he made no promises to spare life the perpetrator. She claimed at St. Mungo's, as her brother was patched up and Draco was being cared for, that if she was in his shoes, she would have done the same thing to protect the ones she loved. She was just grateful he stopped before he killed Ron.

He was thankful to have such a caring and understanding friend. He needed someone like that in his life. He would never admit it out loud, but he was happy to finally have friends like Harry and Ginny. People who protected and defended him; even against their own family.

"Are you ready?" he heard Hermione ask shyly through the en-suite door, interrupting his thoughts.

Draco sat up and rested his upper half on his elbows and looked at the door directly in front of the end of his bed.

"Yeah, come on out." He called out to her.

Hermione cracked the door open but she didn't step out.

"You aren't going to make fun of me, are you?" she questioned softly.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Draco chuckled lightly "Even in full Hogwarts robes, you look amazing."

He could hear Hermione let out a sigh before continuing.

"Ginny picked this out and it's…very risqué. This is not something I would pick and well, we both know you are notorious for teasing people, especially when given the chance to pick on me."

"Hermione," he raised a brow even though she couldn't see him "I won't tease you. I promise."

"I don't know…this is strange."

"Just come out, please. I want to see you." He waited a few seconds and was about to say her name again but Hermione started to slowly open the door.

Sitting up straight, Draco waited until Hermione fully opened the door. Leaning his elbows on his legs, he lowered his head while he played with his hands.

Hermione cleared her throat and he lifted his head to see her. She stood in front of him, looking extremely shy as she raised her hands in self conciseness and played with the lingerie. The light blue baby doll top parted in the center, showing off her delicious looking belly. Her scar faintly showed through the translucent fabric and he had never thought she looked more beautiful than she did at that very moment.

Draco continued to stare, frozen in place as he took all of her in. The light blue thong she wore under the baby doll top had made all the blood rush to his lower region and he was absolutely speechless.

"Say something…Please." She pleaded gently as she tried to cover herself with her hands.

"I uh…Wow, you um," he cleared his throat and rubbed his palms on his jeans "You look beautiful."

Hermione nervously smiled as she played with the end of the baby doll top.

"Really?"

Draco stood up and walked over to her. Slipping his left hand around her waist, he cupped her face with his other.

"Really." He smiled before leaning down, closing his eyes, and placed his lips on hers.

She started kissing him back as she placed her hands on his bare chest and so he deepened the experience by pressing his tongue to her lips. The exhilarating sensation he got from being so close to her made his head spin and his dick extremely hard, but he wouldn't let this moment go by quickly. He wanted to last for her and with her, so the last few days he jerked off in the shower every chance he got to prepare for this day. He just hoped it was enough.

Hermione parted her lips for him, giving him access and free reign over her tongue as he explored her mouth. Her taste was sensual, like a forbidden fruit he wasn't supposed to have, which only made him want her more.

Pressing his body against her, he slightly crouched and lifted her up by her arse. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck; and all the while, neither one dared to break from the other.

Walking her over to the bed, Draco crawled on top while still holding her and gently laid her down on the pillows; hovering over her as he released his lips from her. Looking down at her beauty, he could not help but be mesmerized by her. Her eyes alone made him melt and he could get lost in them for days, without a care in the world if ever found his way out.

"I love you." he spoke softly, but with enough meaning to make sure she believed it; because he did mean it.

Hermione looked up at him and brushed a strand of his blonde hair away from his face with her right hand; her fingers trailing across his cheek and down to his jaw before coming to rest on cleanly shaven chin.

"I love you." she replied in a whisper as she searched his eyes, seemingly lost in his gaze as well.

Draco smiled brightly before leaning down and connecting his lips once more against hers. He pulled back slightly after a few seconds, but only to start a trail of pecks across her jaw and down her neck.

Hermione tilted her head back to give him better access and let off a soft and gentle moan as he continued to make his way to kissing and sucking at her collar bone. Rubbing her fingers through his hair, Draco tenderly ran his fingers down the left side of her ribs. Once he reached her hips, he tucked his fingers under the string of the thong and began pulling them down.

Lifting her hips for him, he broke away from her neck and sat up to take the fabric off of her body. After the underwear was off, he tossed them to the side and leaned back down. Balancing on his right arm, he began to unclasp the front of her top.

"You look amazing with this on, but I think you'll look even better with it off." He playful smirked as the clasp released.

Lifting his chin, Hermione squirmed slightly underneath him and began undoing the button on his jeans that hung on his hips with her other hand. He removed his hand from her top to help her and once the button was undone, he moved to start kissing her sternum.

She gasped at the unexpected gesture and placed her hands back in his hair; letting off soft moans as he kissed his way down to her belly button.

"Draco." She pleaded nervously, while propping herself up on her elbows; stopping him from going below her hips.

He lifted his head and looked at her worried eyes, wondering what was wrong, before it hit him.

"You never…" he started to ask with care.

She shook her head no, cutting him off, and looked to be embarrassed.

"It's okay, Love. I won't do it if you don't want me to."

"No, I…I want you to, I just…I don't really know what to do. I have never done anything other than, well you know."

Draco chuckled and kissed the side of her stomach before looking back up to her.

"Just lay back and relax. Enjoy it and let me do all the work, alright?" he licked his lips as he spoke smoothly to her, comforting her, the best he could.

Hermione lay back down and placed her hands on her stomach. She began playing with her fingers with uneasiness radiating off her body, while Draco moved to rest on his knees in front of her bent legs.

"Just relax Hermione." He repeated as he watched her body tense up. "I won't do anything until you are ready and if you aren't, we don't have to continue, okay?"

She nodded her head and let out a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Her body slightly relaxed and she began biting her bottom lip as she anxiously waited for him to continue. He touched one of her knees and he instantly felt her leg stiffen.

"Hermione, Love."

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"We don't have to do this if you aren't ready." His soft eyes searching her face for any doubt.

She relaxed the muscles in her leg, and parted her knees for him.

"Just…tell me what to do."

Draco let off another chuckle and shook his head slightly.

"Just…enjoy…and if you feel like you need to do something with your hands, place them on my head. Trust me, we will both love it. You can also take my hand if you want." He stated reaching his left hand out to her.

Hermione smiled as she bit her lower lip and nodded her head; taking his hand in hers.

"Okay…I trust you."

With that, Draco began lowering himself between her legs; kissing her inner thigh slowly as he made his way to her sweet zone. He felt her inhale sharply as he got closer and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

He took in her sweet scent before kissing the soft skin of her lips. Gently, Draco licked up the length of her wet pussy and Hermione let out a soft gasping moan. Taking that as a signal to continue, he took his free hand and parted her lips slightly, giving him better access to her core, and touched his tongue to her center.

She squeezed his hand in hers and instantly placed her other hand on top on his head as he continued to lick and suck at her center. Her moans grew louder with each flick of his tongue and her grip in his hair tightened. He was in heaven as her scent filled his nose and her taste warmed his mouth; he couldn't get enough of her.

After a few minutes of licking up her juices, he decided to please her more by inserting a finger into her; making her gasp and close her legs around his head. He didn't care though; she was tight and wet, and it was all for him. Sucking at her clit, he moved his finger in and out of her while she began crying out in sheer bliss.

Draco knew he was about to send her over the edge, so he moved his finger in and out of her faster and sucked harder at her plump and throbbing clit. Hermione's grip on both his hand and his hair, tightened as her orgasm built; she bucked her hips to get closer to his face and let out a loud and pleasurable moan.

Her breath was heavy as she climaxed; her moan, loud and carefree as she spilled her juices on his lips and hand. Releasing the hold she had on his head, he let her finish riding out the experience before removing his hand and placing one last tender kiss upon her soaking wet pussy.

Pulling back and sitting up on his knees, Draco smiled widely as he wiped his chin with the palm of his hand. Licking his fingers, he savored her taste as Hermione lay sprawled out in his bed, panting with her eyes closed. Her top half opened, exposing her left breast while her right hand rested upon her forehead.

Opening her eyes she looked up at him and began grinning from ear to ear.

"Did you enjoy that?" he asked with a smirk. "Because I sure as hell did."

"Oh Godric's yes!" she chuckled "I have been missing out!"

"Well," he began leaning back to hover over her "just say the word and I will do it again." He winked.

"Trust me… _That_ , will be an offer I will take you up on." She smiled while lifting her head to kiss him.

He was surprised, to say the least, that she didn't even bat an eye while kissing him and tasting herself. Most girls he knew were repulsed by tasting themselves, but Hermione seemed to revel in it; turning him on even more.

"Take off your pants." She requested as she pulled away from him and licked her lips.

Smirking again, Draco did as he was told and stood up. Unzipping his fly, he pulled both his boxers and his jeans down before kicking them off the side. He moved the comforter down and Hermione lifted herself up to pull the blanket out from under her. Crawling back into the bed, Draco pulled the covers back up and laid down next to her; moving his body so he could hold her as he lay on his left side.

Trailing his fingers down her right cheek, he gazed at her with love and adoration.

"You are so beautiful." He claimed in a whisper as the light from the candles and fireplace illuminated her petal like skin. "I am so sorry I never told you sooner." He stated as he lifted her left hand and touched the large diamond engagement ring.

"You are telling me now, and that, is good enough for me." She whispered back while looking up into his stormy grey eyes.

Draco knew then, that he never wanted to be without her. She was his everything. Not because of what they were doing now; it was so much more than that. She held the key to his heart and she, was the one who fixed his broken soul. Without her, he would still be wasting away and just living day by day; but with her, he felt on top of the world. He wasn't lonely anymore and he had friends now. He had someone who loved him and she loved him, for him.

Letting off another smile, he leaned down and kissed her soft lips gently. Hermione deepened the kiss and started to turn to lie on her back; pulling him with her. Now on top of her, Draco broke the kiss and stared into her amber eyes.

"Merlin, I don't deserve you." He let out a chuckle and shook his head.

Hermione lifted her hand and cupped his cheek.

"Yes you do…It's me who doesn't deserve you."

"How can you-"

"Draco, shut up and kiss me." She rolled her eye and smiled.

"Yes ma'am." He smirked, knowing she hated to be called that, and leaned back down to kiss her before she could protest.

As their kiss deepened, Hermione began grinding her hips against his rock hard dick. She was still very wet from earlier and all Draco wanted to do was slip inside and pound away. But he had to control himself. This was their first time together and he wanted to make it special.

Hermione bucked her hip again and this time, it was just enough that the tip of his dick now rested right at her entrance, making him nervous and excited at the same time.

Slowly easing into her, they both let out soft moans as Draco continued to fill her. Once he was all the way in, he rested his right arm next to her head and lowered his forehead to hers; trying his hardest to contain him-self as he closed his eyes. She was overly tight and the pressure of her walls squeezing around him, made him want to burst right then and there. It also did not help that she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist started running her fingers through his blonde hair.

Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to hold back as he got used to her warmth.

"Are you okay?" she asked looking up at him.

Draco nodded his head and used the distraction help him calm down.

"Yeah…you just…you feel really good." He chuckled softly.

Hermione lifted her hand and caressed his jaw with her thumb.

"So do you." she whispered.

Pushing his head back slightly, she kissed the top of his forehead before pulling him back to her lips. He removed her left hand from his hair and entwined his fingers through hers, resting both of their hands by her head. Finally calming down, Draco began to ease out of her before thrusting softly back in.

He picked up the pace slightly as he continued to move in and out with as much gentleness as he could muster. They had both broke the kiss and started to moan into each other as the pleasure of each thrust, filled them.

To Draco, Hermione was like the missing piece to him. She completed him and he knew he completed her. The idea of being with her, and really being with her, was so different in his mind. He liked the idea of a relationship with the Golden Girl but he loved actually being with her more.

As he continued to pump into her, Draco felt his climax build. He wanted to wait for her but the motion was becoming too much. Slowing down, he began kissing her neck to distract him-self of the pleasure of her warm wet core, but it wasn't enough and her moaning in his ear was making it that much harder. He had to fully stop his motions and take a few deep breaths to calm his lower region.

Hermione must have known because she didn't question him and instead starting nibbling at his neck; leaving soft tender kisses across his skin. Draco knew that if he continued, no matter how much he tried to think of something else to help him, he was going to cum and he couldn't do that before her.

Making a decision, he pulled out of her and replaced his dick with two of his fingers. Hermione let out a loud moan as he began flicking his fingers inside of her. Pressing his thumb against her clit, he started to rub the pulsating nerve. Knowing he needed to do a little more to get her to her peak before entering her again, he lowered his body down hers and placed her left breast into his mouth.

Sucking and licking the sensitive nipple, Draco released his hand from hers and cupped the breast before moving to the right one; giving both, the attention they deserve. The action seemed to work as Hermione bucked her hips again, and arched her back, while letting off louder moans.

"Oh, right there!" she called out; squeezing her eyes shut "Draco!"

After saying his name, he knew she was close, so he removed his hands and moved back up to her kiss her, all while putting his dick back inside of her in one quick motion. He thrusted a few times and it was enough to send her over the edge. Once she began opening her mouth as her orgasm rose to the surface, he cupped her face and kissed at her neck; finally allowing himself spill into her.

They both let out loud moans as Hermione dug her nails into his back and Draco lightly bit on her ear. He pumped a few more times, slowly, allowing them both to reveal in the ecstasy of one another before he rolled off of her to lie on his back.

Breathing heavily, they both looked up at the ceiling as they took in everything they just did.

"Move in with me." Draco stated after a few seconds of silence, still looking up at the ceiling.

Hermione quickly turned her head to look at him.

"What?" she asked confused.

Draco turned his head to her.

"Move in with me." he repeated. "Live with me, here, in this flat."

"Now?...Don't you want to, I don't know, wait until after we are married?"

"No," he turned his body to the left and propped his head on his hand. "I don't want to wait that long. I want to be able to do this with you every chance I can. I want to wake up to your beautiful face," he grazed his fingers across her cheek "and I want to fall asleep knowing you are in my arms. I want you here, with me. Move in with me."

"I uh…I don't know what to say." she stated, appearing to be thrown back by the question.

"Hermione…I love you and you love me. We are getting married anyway, so I don't see the harm. I don't want you living at your office anymore. I want you to be happy. I want to wake up every day and shower with you, I want to cook you breakfast each morning and read with you each night. I want to relax on the couch holding you while we enjoy the warmth of burning fire; never wondering when you will get up to go back to your office to sleep on a cot. I want to come home from a long day at work and see you here, comfortable and at home. I want this place to be your home."

"Oh Draco," she spoke softly while she raised her left hand and cupped his cheek. "You are my home… Where ever you are, is where I want to be."

"So, is that a yes?" he asked grinning.

"A thousand times, yes." Her smile gleamed in the firelight.

Draco let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked into his fiancée's eyes.

"I love you, Hermione." He spoke softly.

"I love you too Draco…and I always will."


	17. Chapter 17- Epilogue

_**AN- HEY EVERYONE! NO CHANGE TO THIS STORY (not yet at least, one day I will come back and edit it) BUT I WANTED TO LET SOME READERS WHO FOLLOW THIS STORY KNOW THAT THE SEQUEL IS UP! JUST INCASE YOU WERE NEVER NOTIFIED :)**_

 **Short chapter, but definitely my favorite one to write. I had always planned this ending and I think it came out better then I imagined. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Optional Song: Love me like you do- Ellie Goulding**

Chapter 17- Epilogue

 **Tuesday July 4** **th** **, 2006 05:45am San Diego, California; USA**

Draco stood over Hermione; shirtless and barefoot in his light blue jeans, as he watched her sleep in the large king size bed in the rented luxury beach front Villa. A soft breeze began billowing through the open doors leading to the balcony, brushing the curls resting on her soft supple skin. Their first night in the United States as newlyweds, was filled with passion and desire and they both had barely gotten any sleep because of it.

But Draco was determined to make their honeymoon something worth remembering.

Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he gently touched Hermione's arm to wake her. She stirred slightly but continued to sleep.

"Hermione, Love." He whispered, leaning down to her ear. "Wake up."

Hermione stirred again and scrunched her face in annoyance.

"Mmm, five more minutes." She stated groggily before getting comfortable again.

Draco let off a quiet chuckle and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Wake up. I have a surprise for you." he whispered in her ear again.

"It better be good." She mumbled as she rolled on to her back.

"It is…Just keep your eyes closed, okay?" He smiled.

"Easier done, than said." She smiled with her eyes still closed.

"Isn't it supposed to be, easier said, than done?" he questioned with a raised brow.

"Yes, but right now keeping my eyes closed is effortless." She smiled again.

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Draco leaned down a placed a soft kiss upon her lips.

"Mmm, I could get used to that." she claimed when he pulled back.

"I hope so, because I have been doing it every day for a year and I plan," he stood up and grasped her hand to help her sit up "on doing it every day for the rest of our lives as well."

"I don't know. With everything that happened last year, I might forget throughout the day." She giggled as Draco moved to grab her tan silk pajamas off the chair near the bed.

"Then I will just have to remind you every chance I get." He claimed kissing her forehead "Here, put these on, but keep your eyes closed." He held out the pair of shorts and matching spaghetti strapped top.

Getting dressed, Hermione stood up and waited for him to guide her. Taking her hand his, he led her out of the room and carefully down the stairs. Walking her out the back patio doors, he guided her down a set of stairs and across the long wooded pier to the beach.

"Keep your eyes closed."

"They are." She giggled.

Stepping in to the cool sand, Draco moved around to stand behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay…Open them." he whispered in her ear.

Hermione opened her eyes; instantly her jaw dropped and her hands rose to cover her lips. Draco looked up at the table sitting in the center of the beach; complete with a full breakfast covered with silver cloches. A single red rose rested on in a small vase in the center as the sunrise in the background gave off the romantic atmosphere he planned down to the minute for her.

"Oh." Was all she could manage to say, as he watched her eyes begin to water.

"What do you say about breakfast by the ocean this morning?"

"Oh Draco." She whispered as she moved a hand to her chest. "This is so beautiful."

"You are beautiful." He wrapped his arms around her "And before you say anything…I plan to also remind you of that, every day."

She turned her head back to him and gazed into his stormy grey eyes.

"I love you Hermione. I always have…and I always will. I was serious when I told you in my vows. I want to give you the world; every inch of it. You deserve…every happiness." He finished, wiping the fallen tear from her skin.

Hermione fully turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck while he lowered his hands to relax on her hips. She raised a hand and brushed her fingers through his hair and down his face. Resting them on edge of his jawline, she looked up and into his eyes; searching, memorizing, loving.

"You, are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Draco. I love you so much." She stated as tears began to once again, fill her amber eyes.

Draco cupped her cheek and gazed at her face; lost in her beauty as she said those words.

"But you already gave me the whole world, Draco." He raised a brow, slightly confused. "You."

Tears of his own began to fill his eyes, as he looked down as his wife.

"You are my whole world…Nothing else will make me any happier than when I am with you. You, are my husband, from now, until forever."

Draco smiled as he let out a soft chuckle.

"I will have to remember, I am a husband now."

"Well Mr. Malfoy," she moved her fingers around the back of his head "I will be there to remind you, every day." She smiled up at him warmly.

"You spoil me…Mrs. Malfoy."

Draco smiled widely as he leaned down and kissed Hermione. The light breeze of the ocean played across their bodies as the smell of the sea filled his lungs. The need to never let go of her lips, filled his heart as he clung to his wife with desperation. Everything around him evaporated into the background as he deepened the kiss in front of the rising sun.

Their tongue falling madly in love with each other all over again, made Draco want to live in the moment for the rest of his life. He wanted to breathe her in, drown in her, touch her, forever. And now he could. She was his and he was hers; Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, for the rest of time.

Hermione pulled back slightly, letting go the wondrous kiss, and playfully grinned from ear to ear, before pecking him on the cheek and breaking free from his hold. Running away, she laughed and jumped in the air as she turned around; begging for him to chase her.

Letting off a chuckle, Draco shook his head and waited a few seconds to give her a head start. He watched her splash at the water's edge and he couldn't help but smile in happiness. He finally had the girl of his dreams, and to him, it was still unbelievable that she really married him.

Shaking his head once more, he looked down at the sand. Raising his head, he let off a small laugh before he began chasing after her. She playfully giggled as she ran down the wet sand, but Draco quickly caught up to her.

Grabbing her from behind by the waist mid run, Draco lifted her in the air and twirled her around. Hermione squealed and laughed in delight as he turned her in his arms and let the rush of the cool water splash around his feet. Holding her in the air still, she lightly kicked her feet behind her as she cupped his face with both of her hands.

"You are a tease my love." He stated with a wide grin.

"But you love me anyway." she replied, scrunching her nose at him.

"That I do, Love…And I always will."

She leaned down and kissed him again. He lowered her to the sandy beach below, but never broke away from her lips. The waves of the Pacific Ocean cradled around their legs as if binding them together; holding on to them and never letting go, while the sun rose above the horizon, and higher into the brightly colored morning sky.

* * *

 **Happy Holidays family! I hope today brings each and every one of you joy! I love you all and I will see you in the sequel!**

 **Best Wishes, Slytherin-Goddess**


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